Final Frontier
by Cipher32
Summary: For us the storm has passed, it's time to honor those who never return in this dreadful voyage. As human carved their loved ones' names to a stone pillar of remembrance, they carved ours' into their hearts as an utmost symbol of gratitude, and in them we would never be forgotten amidst time for it is the greatest way they honor us. UNSC Enterprise, requesting immediate recovery.
1. Chapter 1: Unexpected Arrival

**I probably would say this in every new story I write but whatever, here's a fair warning from me.**

**First, I AM NOT a native English speaker and still learning about the language, any mistakes and errors you find in the future are completely on me and unintentional.**

**Second, some parts in this story will be 'fictional', meaning it probably will not correlate with the lores exist in both series, the reasons are either due to the lack of the lore itself or I have yet to know about it. Thus in this regard any help you guys provide will be deeply appreciated.**

**Third, I'm fairly new to Azur Lane, I only familiar with it for around a month in which I decided to play the game after watching the anime. Something I notice is that both the game and the anime actually very different in storyline, however I decided to have the mix of both though this story will mainly FOLLOW THE ANIME** **PLOT. Fanfiction is yet to add the tag for Azur Lane anime so I'll put it here on the game's.**

**Alright, without further ado here it is.**

**_Disclaimer: I own neither Azur Lane and Halo._**

**_Final Frontier_**

**Chapter 1: Unexpected arrival**

She came in a burning wrath of God to this broken world, descending with unearthy screech and fiery hues of golden, red and blue fires raging on the entireity of her body, the deep scars marring her dark surface still pulsated with angry scarlet energy, still yet to dissipate from her most recent battle due to their intense heat.

Thick black smoke following her wake like a deadly fog chasing its victim, trying to suffocate and strangle the dying light she had left yet never be able to catch up. Despite the wounds and smoke she sported, neither could obscure the proud symbols of an eagle on her hull, its wings raised high on its sides displaying a silent message of strength and control, however the eagle was not to conquer but to protect and shelter those below it with its powerful wings, and under it was a planet it's born from. On its front, directly on its shield like symbol, four letters painted in block lettering, an abbreviation of the construct's allegiance which the expansion of was displayed horizontally in a banner across the globe.

United Nations Space Command.

As the giant metal construct finally succumbed to the cold and dark ocean surface, creating massive waves of water around its point of impact even the storm created cannot compare to, beams of light flickered on one side of its armored hull, illuminating its name for the briefest of moment before they too died out from power failure. Now dead in the water, nothing but darkness accompanied the once great vessel, a silent reminder that no matter how powerful it once was, a more powerful being existed out there, a being that arrived so suddenly through ominous portals amidst time and space, wreaking havoc to every realms they touched.

It's not much different in this world.

This time however, it would be different. This time mankind didn't face its doom on its doorstep. This time, this one dying vessel would be the one acting as this world's Covenant, one that would ensure the survival of this humanity instead of its destruction for she had swore to protect it the day she was commisioned, an oath she would carry even in her second life.

As a thunder struck nearby, its light shone bright, casting a light to the ship's name in lieu of its inactive artificial lights. The ten digits letter weren't spared from being scarred but even the deep scorch mark failed to fully erase it from the ship's hull. Afterall, it was a name that had gone through eras far before mankind even reached the stars, a name that was lived by countless ships before her, a name that was considered sacred by the Navy due to the legend it carried.

The ship might be dead, but it soul would continue to live on forever as long there was a fight to finish. Luckily for this world this ship's soul refused to die, a sign easily comprehend as a bright light, this time coming from the ship itself, began to encase it as it transformed to thousand small blue cubes. Said cubes swirled high into the raging air before it plummeted to the sea in one focused point, and on it place a figure covered in futuristic looking armor float aimlessly for the ocean didn't dare to swallow her down it endless pit.

The sea had learned to not sink that name, the merciless sea was afraid of it.

* * *

"Enterprise! Hey, listen to me!"

On the other side of the sea, a group of four women glid almost magically above its surface, their feet never touching the water thanks to their rigging providing them the capability. The leader of the group however, a woman with silver hair and a black coat, was visibly struggling against the harsh condition of the storm they were in, it's not without reason because she barely receieved a repair after her last battle had her heavily damaged.

This woman was actually an Aircract Carrier, USS Enterprise of the Eagle Union, the strongest carrier in arguably the world with her thorought service granted her a total 20 Battle Stars.

"What is it, Hornet?" Enterprise asked back to her younger sister, another Aircraft Carrier. Despite being a sister they had completely different appearances with Hornet being a blonde haired young woman which she set in twin ponytails, and unlike Enterprise her choice of clothing also more open, at that departement the only thing similiar to both were their coats.

"Hey, you don't need to push yourself too hard, okay? I'm more than capable to handle this kind of situation!" Hornet shot back, fixing her cowboy styled hat after a rather strong wind nearly knocked it off of her head. "Cleveland is here too, you know she's not even half bad, right Cleveland?"

The third member of the group, a smaller blonde with white coat grinned to Hornet in response. "Yep! I'm confidence in myself I'll be able to repel whatever it's gonna be! No need to worry, Enterprise!"

Before Enterprise could respond, another voice butted in. "Hamman is here too, you know?! You guys keep leaving me out of the count!"

"Yeah sorry, sorry" Hornet apologized sheepishly, patting the Destroyer in the back before returning her attention to a still unconvinced Enterprise, ignoring the huff she receieved from Hamman. "Look, I know you are concerned to me and I appreciate it, but I can hold myself good. Beside I have a Light Cruiser and Destroyer escorting me, make it three Destroyers had you not insisted to sortie as soon as possible and left Laffey with Javelin on the base"

Enterprise did not respond immediately because a rather large wave nearly knocked her off of her feet, thankfully Hornet managed to catch her just in time else she might have crashed to the ocean. She peered through the corner of her eyes to see Hornet's now worried smile. "I'm fine" She stated before promptly pushing her sister away. "I'm not going to lose you too" Enterprise muttered, still loud enough for Hornet to hear it.

"I'm not going anywhere, sist" She mumbled back as Enterprise sped forward the group, leaving the three girls to follow her from behind.

Cleveland caught up to Hornet's right side while Hamman appeared on her left, they both stared at the advancing carrier with their own concerned expressions. "Is she going to be alright? This is her fourth operation after in just two days. Belfast said she barely eats too recently"

"Enterprise's always been like that" Hamman piped in, frowning deeply. "Ever since... Ever since Yorktown is hurted Enterprise started pushing herself this far, sometimes even further"

"I'm worried about her, her repair isn't finished yet even with Vestal present. Her superstructure is destroyed, her flight deck is heavily damaged and I think there's a problem with her propulsion too"

"I saw the extent of the damage too, she shouldn't be walking right now much lest sortieing"

Having enough, Hornet balled her fists and promptly hit both Cleveland and Hamman's heads, not strong enough to hurt them but was enough to make them reeled in surprise. "That is my sister you both talking about!" She growled playfully, grabbing their human and cat ears respectively, eliciting a pained shriek from both girls.

"Agh! S-sorry!"

"D-don't pull my ear!"

"Good! I made myself understood" The blonde clasped her hands together cheerfully, mercifully sparing both Cleveland and Hamman from further agony. They sent her a glare but it quickly molt to nothingness when they noticed the grimace in Hornet's face.

At that moment they understood Hornet too was unsettled by Enterprise's action.

"Enterprise'll be fine, we take care of our own. I know how it feels to have badass sisters" Cleveland tried to assure the carrier.

"Enterprise has us" Hamman added.

"Yeah... She has"

Their voyage lasted for a few hours more in silence, battling against the rough weather condition all the way. Not once did the girls have to help Enterprise stayed on her feet, either by grabbing her directly or by positioning themselves to break the waves for the damaged carrier. The latter was mainly done by Hornet who had the largest displacement between them, easily smashing through the high water.

The act didn't went unnoticed by Enterprise who couldn't help but to feel bad for the girls. She refused to be a burden, always fighting nail and tooth by her own, yet when another wave exploded infront of her she was reminded with how powerless she was currently.

It just that she couldn't let herself to watch her sister go against the unknown alone, that's why when the Commander informed her the Space Agency detected an anomaly above Pacific Ocean she immediately volunteered to go along with Hornet. The haste was merely to prevent Vestal from grounding her back in base.

No doubt the Repair Ship was currently fuming back home.

_I can worry about Vestal chewing me later_. Enterprise thought, tipping her hat down slightly when Hornet broke another wave with an excited cheer.

"Hornet" She called her sister, when Hornet turned around to face her Enterprise then continued. "Any word from scout planes?"

That's another problem, Enterprise cannot launch aircraft, not without her bow or her flight deck so she had to rely with Hornet's.

Hornet tilted her head slightly, visibly communicating with her squadrons of Dauntless through mental link. "Scout Squadron 1 reported nothing in west grid but Scout 2 spotted a small flotilla of Siren ships heading northwest"

"A small flotilla? how many to be exact?"

Hornet's brows furrowed lower in avid concentration, Enterprise knew by experience it's more difficult to keep a link with her aircrafts in this kind of weather. "About fifteen ships, mass-produced type"

"You call that small?!" Hamman cried out, hugging herself to keep her body warm. Water and cat didn't fare well in the same sentence afterall.

"I can take them out in two attack runs, most Sirens are dumb anyway"

"Never underestimate your enemy, Hornet" Enterprise reprimanded, giving her younger sister a scolding look. She then turned her attention to the direction where the Siren were heading before making up her decision. "Alright, whatever caught their interest must be related to this anomaly NAVCOM orders us to investigate, we are heading that way too"

"Speaking of which, is there any word from base?" Cleveland inquired.

"No, the storm must have interfered with our comms"

"Huh, so much for being a modern tech" Hornet murmured in return.

"We should never rely solely on equipments, they're prone to break" Enterprise raised her damaged flight deck to emphasize, it only served to remind them how powerless the carrier was. "Hornet, start launching CAP flights. We're officially in dangerous territory now"

"Right" Hornet nodded, preparing the first flight to take-off. She made sure to order most of her aircrafts to protect Enterprise than herself, it's clear she needed it more.

As the last of her Combat Air Patrol groups left her deck, Hornet quickly prepared for her Dauntless to be equipped with bombs. She had half the mind to summon her special Doolittle airgroup but refrained when her mental calculations revealed they're too far from friendly ground territory for it too land.

The strike could do some serious damage, but it was limited with their place of deployment. If Hornet launched her Doolittle and they lost in the sea, they won't be back for months. For some reason the B-25s couldn't be replenished like regular carrier-based aircrafts if they lost somehow, they wouldn't appear back on her deck unless they landed back in friendly territory where they would then just vanish.

It's certainly unknown how they did that, but at least Hornet knew to never waste her special ability. She had learned it the hard way.

"Target spotted, range 25 kilometers bearing 302. SBD Squadron One through Three are attacking" The group came to halt upon Hornet's declaration, they watched in silence as her aircrafts flew in formations toward their targets. Cleveland moved closer to the carriers, her guns traversing high ready to repel any possible aircraft attack while Hamman silently listening for any submarine threat.

"Diverse the attack to two groups, have Squadron One attacking the forward-most ships while Two and Three gets a bead on their rear and sides. That way it will cripple their ability to fight and flight" Enterprise ordered and Hornet complied, she didn't question her sister's order knowing Enterprise had better experience than her.

"Bombs away, ten out of fifteen ships are sunk or out of commission" Hornet reported with her light tone, grinning widely.

"Good job" Enterprise complimented with a small smile of her own. "Alright, we're advancing"

"Wait, you don't want me to finish them first?!"

"It's fine, you guys can take care of them once we get close enough" Enterprise sped forward once again, leaving the rest of the group behind. She didn't want to admit it but she was rather unsettled with this anomaly that had the Commander jumpy.

The fact the Siren also showed their interest also played a big role.

It's not entirely unusual to have some Siren ships roaming the sea, especially the Pacific Ocean considering how vast it was. But to have them exactly on the same place at the same time the anomaly occured wasn't a mere coincident, whatever it was it could be either very good or very bad, to which side was yet to be decided.

One thing for certain, the Commander warned her it was huge, how huge was still a mystery that even he didn't know. NAVCOM were still scratching their heads trying to figure out the exact numbers, considering it only appeared on satellite for a briefest of moment with probably half of it covered in deep dark cloud. By her estimation based on the picture they receieved, the thing was five hundred meters at the very least.

And it was dark, black almost grey-ish in color like a cloud in night sky. Unlike the Siren who prefered to have red and jet black as their paint, this metal construct was colored so differently. The spooks were still trying to properly identify it but they might as well trying to freeze burning coal with refrigator.

She looked up when Hornet's second wave of attack aircraft soared toward the rest of the enemy, the following explosion was far more closer meaning they only a few minutes away from the conflicting area.

Had Enterprise was a bit closer to her sister, she would have heard the yell she uttered to her.

"Wait!"

* * *

_... Waiting for command._

_... System diagnostic started._

_..._

_..._

_... System diagnostic completed._

_... Main computer online._

_... AI not detected. Commence hard start?_

_..._

_..._

_... Command confirmed; starting._

_... Reactors; check._

_... Hull integrity; check._

_... Weapon system; check._

_... Slispace-drive; error._

_... Propulsion... Warning; main engine is offline, sub-engine two is malfunctioning._

_... Sensor arrays... Warning; communication system malfunctioning, LADAR is malfunctioning. Switch to passive scan?_

_... Command confirmed; activating passive scan. Uplifting main bridge protective bulkheads._

_..._

_..._

_..._

_... Warning; unknown contacts._

_... Warning; unknown contacts._

_... Warning; unknown contacts._

_..._

_..._

_..._

_By the sea, by the land, and by the stars. We will defend mankind from her possible adversary, be it domestic or foreign, be it the known or unknown, and we will prevail in our duty. Death is just the beginning of something new, death is just the start of a new spirit to take our place, there is no defeat in death, it's only a start of a new victor._

_UNSC Epoch-class Heavy Carrier, hull number CV-600 **Enterprise**, from now onward you will be the sword and shield of mankind until the day you are lost in void and beyond and never be found. But heed this, even in death you will still carry the wish of mankind, a wish that has been granted by to your name, and that is the greatest way they honor us for we will never be lost in time amidst space._

_The Final Frontier has just been revealed, and you are the one to first venture it. Shine the light for us to follow, for we have lost in the darkness far too long and blinded by it._

_Be the light that guide us._

**_TBC_**

**I usually upload a chapter around 6k words but considering this basically an intro I decided to make it shorter.**

**Reviews and feedbacks will be greatly appreciated, if you have something in mind be it question or statement don't be shy to deliver it to me. My knowledge about Epoch-class is limited to what Halopedia says so if you have some facts that aren't mentioned there it will help me in developing this story.**

**Until next time.**


	2. Chapter 2: New Identity, Same Capability

**Chapter 2: New Identity, Same Capability.**

_Be the light that guide us..._

_UNSC _Enterprise_, Epoch-class Heavy Carrier hull number CV-600... This will be my final battle after one too many..._

_I shall not fail._

* * *

A pair of maroon red eyes fluttered open, obscured by a thick black glass of a helmet visor, droplets of water hitting the surface of the said visor slowly leaving moist marks on it. The owner groaned, both from pain and physical exertion, pushing herself off of whatever she was lying on only to froze when realization hit her with the might of MAC round.

She shouldn't have eyes.

She shouldn't have feet.

Panic filled her heart for the briefest of second until military discipline took control, she tried to regulate her breathing to keep calm and began to assess the situation. Activating her HUD system, which somehow took the same order when she was still a ship, her vision suddenly filled with various warning messages from her internal and external systems.

Reactors, hull integrity, weapon system and sensors took utmost priority almost immediately above all, giving her full readouts of her current condition. She spared them a brief glance before pushing the messages clear and instead directed her gaze below to look at her own body. A body that somehow took an appearance of human female, cladded in what she recognized as Mark V MJOLNIR Power Armor those Spartan super soldiers she once transported to an outer colony world wore. Tentatively, she brought her hands up to examine both appeandages and for the first time in her life she knew how it felt to have fingers as she flexed the ten digits experimentally, despite the initial clumsiness it didn't took her long to master her own fingers and soon she had full control of them.

This shouldn't be possible. She shouldn't have _human_ body, she _should_ be dead.

The latter she was certain of because she could still remember how a CAS-class Assault Carrier tore her hull with its swarm of Plasma Torpedoes, and she sure could still remember the scream her crew let out when she failed them.

The ship-turned-woman bit her lip, a foreign feeling bubbling inside her stomach, a feeling a moment later she realized as fear. Myriad of these emotions swirled up together, creating a storm of unknown sensation she never felt before. Her new consciousness struggled to register every single one of them.

Her crew, they were all dead, she couldn't hear their chatters inside her hallways and bridge, she couldn't hear the usual squabble the Marines would have in her hangars, she couldn't feel the comfort knowing she had the best men and women fighting with her, alongside her. They were all gone, only silence except the sound of thunder and rain permeating around her, not even the dark of space ever made her feel this lonely.

She looked up, trying to distract herself from such frail thoughts, staring at the dark sky numbly. At least one thing for certain that she was on a planet and not a gas giant, or worse a black hole. She couldn't make sure which one was better though, being sucked by a gravity field strong enough to tear her apart or being in this confusing situation.

In the end, the need to acquire more information won out. She brought up her damage control report again, silently reading through various warnings and alerts in hope to get a bead on what actually happening to her. The last video file her system recorded did nothing to appease her confusion and instead only served to make her unease, it's her final battle defending planet Reach, the last bastion for mankind, which led to her eventual doom. Nothing in the video could be used to help her finding answer.

In other word, she just popped up literally out of nowhere to this planet with zero clue how and why. It was frustrating and concerning at the same time.

_There has to be an explanation..._ _There is no way I turned to human just like that..._

Once again, she looked down. Frowning deeply when she noticed things she didn't notice earlier about her appearance. Her weapon systems read normal, she still retained her entire armaments with her, but their physical forms were all changed to fit her new body if not straight up minimalized from their normal size. Her single 56A2F9/Rapid-Fire Variant Light Magnetic Accelerator Cannon was resting behind her right shoulder with a metal arm supporting it, its long barrel jutting up to the sky with somekind of handle near its tip, its rear compartment curved like the magazine feed used in M41 Rocket Launcher but instead of disposable rocket tube a magazine belt was attached to it running down to her back where her reactors were, leading her to believe it's a power supply line instead of for actual magazine.

The dual Mark 15 Breakwater Naval Coilguns took more drastic change than her MAC, at least her MAC still had a resemblance to its former self unlike her coilguns which changed to what seemed like some sort of handguns with coils around their barrels. Both weapons were stored on her thighs, clasped in magnetic holsters. A quick inspection revealed they didn't have any visible magazine feed just like her MAC gun, but the moment her fingers closed around them, they suddenly lit up with blue-ish color especially around the coils.

_So... They don't exactly need ammunitions, at least not like how firearms should be._ She thought drly, looking at the ammo counters on the right corner of her HUD, despite not requiring continous ammo cycling they still had limited shells, the reading showed they had the exact ammunition count when she was fully stocked.

Scoffing in disbelief with how ridiculous it was, she quickly returned both naval coilguns to their new respective places. Brushing her fingers on her Archer missiles pods now positioned on her left hip and did the same thing to her Bident missile on her right. Both guided weapons were again supported by the metal arms protruding from her back, it seemed the metal arms were acting as her weapons foundation and were the most vital part of herself aside from her engines and reactors judging with how most of her point defense guns, now smaller in numbers and size, were arranged on them.

The autocannons she had to fend off Covenant fighters and transports were on the other hand, covering her arms from elbows down to her forearms. Despite looking far smaller than their original size, she somehow knew they could still deal the same damage, no matter how illogical it was.

At this point, she had resigned herself to trust what her intuition told her.

While her MAC occupied her right side, apparently her hangar was now moved to her left shoulder blade, the blast shields were visible amidst the dark plating thanks to the guidance lights once used to help the pilots land safely illuminating it. The prospect brought a new question to her rather than answer, about how would her complement of aircrafts operate. Like her weapons, she got a full combat readiness status from her squadrons but now without any pilots she wasn't sure how they would fly, or how they would look for the matter.

_Only one way to find out._

"Enterprise actual to Mercury Flight, prepare for takeoff and conduct in-atmosphere recon" Enterprise ordered to one of her many Broadsword squadrons. Almost instantly she receieved literally a green light on her HUD, followed with a faint whirling sound on her back as the blast shields covering the hangar being lifted, exposing her internal structure for a brief moment because as soon as the Broadswords lurched high into the air it quickly shut itself again.

She was sure whatever passed as her brain almost stuttered to halt as she saw the four buggers disappeared amidst stormy cloud, transforming to a full size Broadsword Fighters. More so when she _felt_ the aircrafts communicate with her through somekind of mental words she didn't understand but _could _comprehend.

Enterprise blinked once, getting rid of the brain melting thought and the odd sensation her flight group gave her. It seemed her sitution was more severe than what she originally predicted. A space ship easily 35 million metric tons in total displacement, equipped with one of the heaviest armors and weapons humanity ever produced, turned to a woman cladded in Mark V MJOLNIR barely a ton in weight.

And let's not think about her height, because she was certainly not 2,5 Km.

She wasn't even a SPARTAN to begin with, how could she wear a MJOLNIR anyway.

Pulling a digital note, she began to make a log about her current predicament, all known facts and what to do with them later on, she almost done when she noticed she also capable of standing above water surface then promptly added it to her _NEED SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH _section. If there was something a space ship feared, it was the unknown.

Activating her sensor suite, Enterprise almost cringed when alarm blared in her helmet nearly defeaning her. She hastily deactivated the warning system and double-checked the reading, it seemed her sensors suffered heavy damage with most of them inopt, with only a handful still operational. Bio-detector was offline, her main and secondary LADAR were offline, RADAR was only working on 20% capacity, and her communication suites both for real space and Slipspace arrays were busted with only short-range radio still working. The damage control reported the faults were mostly mechanical, meaning she couldn't just hard start the systems and hope they'd fix themselves.

A mental tug on the back of her head brought her attention, a single message suddenly popped up on the front of her vision. It's a data-link from her Broadswords, displaying a real-time video feed. At first, she wasn't sure with what her fighters showed her but a quick enhancement on the camera later and it was clear that something was there.

Or rather, someone.

According to the Broadswords, a small fleet of wet navy vessels were heading her way, they were consisted of fifteen ships in total, ships with design unregistered to her database. Each were painted in vicious looking dark color with some glowing red lines running amidst the hull, they were also armed with small caliber anti-ship armaments which might pose a threat to her had she been a 21st century vessel herself they seemingly resembled. Too bad she wasn't.

Still, there was too many unknowns. Apparently there was somekind of military organization in this planet, meaning it's habitated and not just some random barren land like she initially thought. The first question was who or what were they, since UNSC only used blue water vessel scarcely for a world with vast water surface it threw the possibility out of equation, and there was the fact her vast databanks ranging from the start of mankind's history to today failed to clue her. Ever since orbital warfare became a thing, wet vessel was considered as obsolete, so either this local inhabitant was too primitive or too advanced they were confident their surface ships could take out a space ship like herself.

Both yet again opened up more questions than answers.

There was also a possibility of them being Insurrectionists, but according to her records the Innies never operated any wet vessel larger than Blue Navy classification of Frigate, which these ships exceeded almost to Cruiser size. She checked her weapons once again, double checking and triple checking everything was accounted for possible upcoming engagement. If they were truly a part of Insurrectionist terrorist group, she wouldn't spare them a chance.

Deciding to investigate by herself, Enterprise quickly recalled her fighters back, there was no point keeping them airborne and she didn't want to risk losing them until she found a way to replenish her supply. Enterprise then began to activate her functioning engines, mindful with the fact she only had one fully operational sub-engine while her other one barely stabilizing on half of its power output. After a slight struggle in balancing herself thanks to her engines new positions directly on her boots instead of back, she finally succeeded keeping herself steady, and soon she was on her way to the direction where the unknown fleet was.

She watched as her Broadsword made a landing turn from the cloud, giving them all clear and raised the blast shields of her hangar. Much to her fascination, they suddenly transformed to four golden balls of light before entering her hangar. She checked their status and was surprised to find they were ready for another deployment.

It usually took minutes to refuel and rearm a Broadsword, not barely a second.

Frowning from yet another illogical phenomenon, she barely flinched when she smashed through a rather large wave, breaking it to countless small droplets. She hoped whatever or whoever these unknowns were they could give her an answer for her many questions, at the very least to an extent. If not, she had the full authority to make sure she operated at a hundred percent capacity, and seeing how her current predicament hindered her from working fully UNSC regulations stated she could take any ways necessary.

That including by peaceful or violent approach. She was ready for either.

Enterprise pushed her sub-engines at their best capabilities but it's hard to maintain even speed with one exhaust sputtering black smoke, still she managed to keep her speed above 80km/h, soaring high above sea level so she didn't have to deal with its raging waves. Her HUD had taken flight mode, enhancing her sight and giving her real-time readouts on her surrounding through passive sensors, Infrared and Thermal were amongst her handful operational sensors, feeding her vision with their datas.

The other non-combat essential sensors she had onboard gave her the data about her vicinity, revealing the environment and atmosphere were similiar to that of Earth's. It didn't surprise her since there's living being in this planet, she even swore she saw a fish down below. The gravity also almost similiar with mankind's home planet with only a slight off on the charts, barely 2% stronger, however such difference could still affect a hundred years worth of evolution.

She didn't want to deal with some freak sea monsters yet, especially in the middle of nowhere.

_It could be useful to test my weapons... I don't know how they would perform_ _now_. She thought distractedly, running a little simulation in one of her system subroutines.

Discarding the thought for later, Enterprise glanced at the small map her Broadswords provided her, using it as a point of reference to her and the unknowns' positions. She was roughly 10 kilometers short, an extremely close distance in sea much lest for a space ship, from reaching her destination. She didn't wait to issue general quarters and brought her weapons online, dully noting how her point defense guns and autocannons began to move on their own seemingly tracking invisible targets, while her MAC hummed with power.

Soon, her targets came within range of her powerful sensors, sailing undisturbed and unaware with weapons far advanced than what they possessed only a motion away from being unleashed to them. The ship-turned-woman kept her distance for a few more seconds to formulate a plan, observing the small fleet with utmost precision. Every curves, every angles and every weapons they had were slowly being assessed by the woman, and once she had got enough she finally made her first move.

"This is UNSC Epoch-class Heavy Carrier Enterprise broadcasting in all open channels, to unknown fleet consisted of fifteen black-colored ships bearing from 130 degree South East to 302 North West, halt at where you are and identify yourself, failure to comply will be met by force" Enterprise demanded, playing the message in loop and broadcasting it through any known communication methods be it Morse or even tight-beam signals, anything she had that was still functional.

The fleet kept on forward for a few more kilometers, seemingly ignoring her warning, she'd tried to use every known languages be it human's or ones which were a native of the Covenant species' but neither garnered a respond, making her believe this was an entirely new species. Enterprise was about to send a First Contact Package every UNSC ships possessed, detailing all the necessity of greeting about humanity and their intention of peace, that despite her earlier order that could be easily interpreted as a threat she actually prefered peaceful contact, when the ships suddenly came to a sudden halt 5km away below her hovering form.

And they just stopped there, unmoving with zero sign of life whatsoever. It's almost like someone cut their power off and left them be, a mass of floating hunk of metal in the middle of ocean only the sea caused them to sway. Enterprise tried to find any sign of living being, anything to clue her of the native of this planet when suddenly her radio screeched with static.

At first, it was just some unintelligible buzz of nothingness leading her to believe her communication suites were getting interference from the planet's magnetic field and almost passed it off as system malfunction when suddenly a voice speaking in unmistakenly English language echoed amidst the buzzing, a voice clearly of human origin.

_"My, what a rude way to greet someone..." _It said with a mocking hollow giggle, prompting Enterprise to frown. There was something wrong about it that caused her to put up her guard instantly.

"I'm not going to repeat myself again, identify yourself" Enterprise ordered, hands moving to her dual naval coilguns. "Failure to comply will be met by force"

There was a moment of tense silence, only punctuated by the cracks of thunders around them as both factions seized each other up. Despite Enterprise's disadvantage in number she still held her ground, giving her intention clear that she was more powerful than what she seemed to her opponents. Whoever these unknowns were, they certainly had made contact with mankind before if they had known how to communicate in English. Even the Covenant with their technological might needed a direct contact to translate a language.

Any other scenarios were straight up impossible.

Finally, a more quiet tone of her unknown dialer reached her, this time more clearer than before Enterprise could deduce it's a female she spoke with.

_"You're not from around here, aren't you?UNSC... Epoch Heavy Carrier... Your designation CV-600... Those all don't exist in this world__". _In far more smaller tone she then added _"But not your name... It always exist..."_

Enterprise ignored the last comment. "You know human language, you must have made contact with humanity before-"

_"Made contact?__"_ It said, this time a deafening laugh followed it. _"We made contact with mankind everyday, we watch them live and sail this realm from the deepest of ocean. We ravaged their lands and burn their seas, filling their life with despair and agony is our daily basis". _The voice paused, as if thinking about something before it continued _"I can feel something within your soul... You are a new reborn, aren't you? Your newly projected spirit is filled with unadulterated hatred and anger, unmolded at its purer form. What a delicious feeling__"_

"... So there is human habitating this planet?"

_"__There is... They've been here before we have, waging war against each other in the thirst of blood, how stupid"._

Enterprise blinked, mulling the new information. So there was human in this planet, one that had been a local for quite long time, maybe they're from a lost colony ship or even an unregistered colony world?

She logged the information. "What is this 'we' you are refering yourself as? What are you exactly?" Enterprise began in hope to squeeze as much intel as possible, right now all she needed was knowledge especially one involving her condition.

It seemed this unknown also thought of the same thing.

_"You ask too much... How about I ask you for a change? One question for the other"_

"Very well, but answer my earlier question first"

_"Fine..."_ The voice breathed out. _"We are known by many names, Living Lies, Twisted Maidens, Sea Whisperers... They were ones of many. But to this world we are simply known as Siren"_

"Siren..." Enterprise muttered, testing the word with her new tongue. Her system automatically designated the ships based on their classification and allegiance, the previously yellow colored words 'Unknown' now were replaced with red pulsating 'Siren Cruiser 1' all the way to 15 . At least she knew what she up against.

_"Get it? Some says the first step to defeat your enemy is by knowing them, so please tell what is this 'UNSC' you said you are a part of"_

Enterprise's armored hand twitched beside her at the implication, her reply came in a solid and simple tone. "United Nations Space Command"

_"Space Command...?" _The now identified Siren uttered almost hesitantly, as if unsure with what she heard.

"Yes, now's my turn. You mentioned something about being here, since when?"

The Siren took a bit longer to respond, a fact Enterprise noticed instantly. _"We've been here for decades, since the Old War"_

"Old War?"

_"Ah, that's two questions in a row, Enterprise..." _She said with a giggle, earning a scoff from the space ship. _"My turn, is it true that you are a space ship born from different world than this?"_

"Yes" Enterprise replied curtly, not wanting to reveal too much information from her end. "Now answer my earlier question"

_"How straight forward, I don't like it" _The Siren commented but yet again Enterprise ignored it and instead patiently waited for the more valuable answer. _"The Old War, was a war humanity waged amongst their own kind. By their measurement of time, it happened approximately 30 years ago from today. When we arrived to this world, the war was nearing its end with Union solidifying their hold on Sea of Seas and quickly pushing their influence to the East where another power responsible for awakening their wrath resided, while the cunning Knights of Royal and her allies finished off the Chosen Blood on the North. It's endearing to see how they then banded together to fight us Siren, even after so long drowned in each others' blood, truly a fascinating species"_

_Banded? They were no longer allied themselves to fight these Sirens? But why?_

_"Something troubling you? Is it the part about them seceding from their alliance?"_

"Is that going to be your next question?"

_"It is"_

"Then the answer is yes" Enterprise replied curtly. "Tell me about this alliance and the factions inside"

_"That's gonna take a bit of time"_

"We have time"

_"I beg a differ"_ The Siren countered, earning an alerted gaze from Enterprise.

"And why is that?" She queried sharply at the declaration. Enterprise never got the answer however because suddenly one of the ships consisting the Siren fleet exploded into a blazing ball of fire, throwing metals everywhere into the sea. "What's happening?!"

The Siren sighed before she replied _"__They're here, it seemed you'll get your answers sooner than expected_. _What a shame I actuallly have plan with you"_

There was a loud buzzing sound filling the air, followed by another and another slowly drowning the cackling of thunders around them. Enterprise's point defense guns abruptly turned to the sky as metal objects continued to fall from above the cloud surface, objects she quickly analyzed as bombs, following these bombs were squadrons of piston aircrafts usually found in museums or history books.

They made a diving run, engaging the most strategically positioned ships in the fleet. Tracer rounds filled the sky as anti-aircraft armaments tried to repel the coming strike but only some of them managed to land a hit and score a kill.

The attack didn't last for more than 2 minutes yet the result was devastasting for the Sirens, whatever remained of the fleet moved closer to form a tight formation. Enterprise however just stared during the whole ordeal, conflicted between helping and just observing. Her mind came to halt for a moment due to the amount of informations she receieved and more questions that popped up after the attack.

Enterprise managed to catch a glimpse of the attacking aircrafts with one of her powerful onboard cameras, and to say she was surprised with what she saw would be an understatement. These aircrafts were registered in her database as Douglass SBD Dauntless, a type of scout/bomber aircraft largely utilized by the United State during World War 2, meaning it had been out of service for _centuries. _They're no longer exist much lest still in active duty.

So seeing them by her own eyes in action was probably the most unexpected thing she would have ever imagine.

"What is going on here..." Enterprise muttered numbly. She was confused, angry, and this burning sensation on her abdomen kept throbbing nonstop since her awakening.

_"They were a part of this alliance I mentioned, these aircrafts must be from one of their carriers. The human probably saw you when you descended"_

"That didn't even give me any meaningful answer" Enterprise retorted, her burning gaze turned toward the Sirens. "What is your intention in this world? Why do you chose to be mankind's enemy?"

_"We do what we deemed necessary"_

"Necessary? As in for yourself or something far more larger?"

_"I'm afraid I've said too much"_

Enterprise nodded, sucking in a deep breath and released it slowly. On her Radar a blip appeared but she ignored it in favor of replying. "Then so be it. UNSC First Contact Protocol Article 3; By intentionally showing a direct or indirect threat to humanity, I am hereby order to neutralize you through any means necessary and gather whatever combat information I may acquire to prepare mankind from further prejudice you and your kind might inflict in the future" There was a hiss as the Archer pod on her hip slid open, revealing the warhead of one of the best anti-ship missiles UNSC had.

_"So be it. But heed this, humanity will keep on forward, and those who you hold dearly will eventually forget you, your affection to them will doom you"._

Enterprise's reply came in a solid and unwavering tone "I don't care, their survival is my utmost priority above all, even myself". And with that, the Archers launched forward, leaving a trail of angry blue fire on their wakes. Five of these missiles raced in an organized formations, each had their own targets of destinations. "Farewell"

_"Until next time, Void Wanderer"_

The missiles struck home, all but obliterating the ships before Enterprise. A single Archer missile was rated to cripple smaller UNSC ships, ships equipped with enhanced armor plating liker her. Even Covenant ships with their nanolaminate armor couldn't withstand a full swarm of Archer missiles, granted once their shields were offline. These ships with their inferior armor might as well used paper for their non-exist armor effectiveness.

It was comforting to know her weapons were as effective as they were when she still a ship.

When the dust settled, nothing but burning piles of metals left of the Sirens, slowly sinking down to the endless bottom of the ocean. Those that were destroyed by the aircrafts however slowly disappeared into the thin air, as if their existances were merely deleted from the world leaving nothing to remain. Enterprise observed the occurance with keen interest but only mild surprise, despite how unusual it was she just passed it off as another surprise this unknown world had in store.

Another squadrons of the piston aircrafts made a passing run above her, their bombs still attached on their underbelly never had chance to be used, only when she was sure they had no intention to attack her did she let her point defense guns to ease up. Enterprise then slowly descended to the water surface, literally testing it before cutting her engines offline.

For a moment, she let herself got lost in the silence, thinking over the latest development of her situation. Aside from the fact she found a world habitated by human of unknown origin, she also found another alien entity dead set to kill every human on their path because of reasons, it seemed mankind would always find more enemy.

Still, these Sirens, while not as technological advanced than the Covenant, they managed to disrupt a whole world and terrorized its occupants. It reminded her of the Insurrectionist group UNSC had been fighting before the start of Human-Covenant War, a group she had fought a few times in her earlier time of service roughly a few years after she was comissioned into the Navy.

The comparison was... comforting in a way.

An Epoch-class Heavy Carrier like herself was designed for a single ship deployment, meaning she was decently equipped to fight a whole world alone. While her reach wasn't as far as that a Supercarrier like Punic-class, she was still considered as a symbol of UNSC Navy might for being known as the heaviest armored Carrier just below the Supercarriers. Enterprise's resiliency was proven during her entire 50 years of service, starting from 2502 until 2552 where she finally succumbed to her wounds. From the day she was born, Enterprise had been pounded by missiles and cannon shells, seared by lasers and burned with Plasma weapons far too much than she could count, there was even a moment where she receieved a MAC round on her starboard from a hijacked UNSC Frigate during her campaign in Operation TREBUCHET but in the end she always prevailed.

How could a single world be different?

The blip on her Radar returned and she turned toward the direction where it came from, whatever it was it's probably pretty big to be detected by her barely functioning Radar considering how the aircrafts didn't appear on it. It's a good thing her missiles homing algorithms could be toggled with prefered systems so to not rely on a single targeting unit, else her missiles would scatter everywhere.

Standing a few meters before her was a woman approximately on her early twenty. She had a shoulder length silver hair which was rather unkempt, around her neck was a tattered black cloak covering a white shirt. However what caught Enterprise's attention the most was the bow she was holding, it had some sort structure on it that resembled a bridge of a ship, and the black themed landing deck on her side seemingly supported by a single metal arm running down to the woman's back unlike her equipments which was mainly fused to her suit.

Their gazes met for a second, emotionless black glass and stoic purple clashing together in silent battle. Enterprise's MAC hummed to life as the metal arm supporting it moved the weapon to her side as if to offer it to its rightful owner, she didn't wait to grab the handle near the tip, holding the cannon in reverse grip with its barrel pointing straight to the unknown woman. The fact this woman shared the ability to stand above water surface was enough evidence she's also a ship like her, if her equipments weren't enough proof, and since she hadn't seen the true form of this Siren Enterprise could only assume.

The space ship blinked and the image of the unknown girl shifted, instead of a short haired woman she suddenly grew a long silver hair which reached down to her rear, her tattered cloak also changed to a loose black coat that revealed her shoulders. Her bow also gone, and the flight deck on her side gained a pattern of yellow on its surface and a number 6 near the end, it also appeared to be damaged with cracks and blast marks marring its surface.

While her face still retained the same facial structure, a shocked look however replaced the previous stoic expression she had.

Enterprise eased her finger around the trigger of her MAC, the power counter on her HUD stayed the same on 5% capacity however. She tried to find the previous woman but couldn't find her anywhere and decided to check on her recording, only to frown when it's revealed it was _this_ woman she had been staring at from the beginning.

Shaking her head in disbelief, Enterprise focused her attention toward the woman again, activating her external speakers and said the very same thing she said to the Siren earlier.

"Identify yourself"

**_TBC_**

**I didn't expect this story to receive so many attentions because honestly I wrote it out of boredom, but oh well.**

**Also here are the asnwers for your questions, I really appreciate your reviews but I'll only point out the most pressing ones.**

**-The Siren didn't plan for Halo Enterprise's arrival.**

**-Yorktown is still alive**

**-The original idea was to have Punic-class, but I reevaluated it since the lore about Punic is too limited and I don't want to throw some random guessing.**

**-Halo Enterprise shares the namesake of USS _Enterprise_, she comes from 'our' world where Siren dooesn't exist.**

**-The characters won't have any abilities like in their game counterparts, however what abilities shown in the anime will exist in this story.**

**Also here some issues I would like to address:**

**-I couldn't find any _canon_ source that details about Epoch 2554 retrofit, what I found is Fanon source and I don't want to take a reference unless from canon. Besides, I already hinted about UNSC _Enterprise_ eventual destruction above Reach and as we know the planet fell on 2552 so there won't be any retrofit or advanced energy shielding, any other Post-War techs really.**

**-I don't know what the Mark 15 Naval Coilguns exact way of operation, but based on the name it implies it was some sort of coilgun which as we all know is the actual explanation of Magnetic Accelerator Cannon. My guess is the 'Naval Coilgun' is actually a preceding design for Mini-MAC, so in this story they will work in the same way.**

**-Also, can someone explain to me how EXACTLY Bident missile works?**

**That'll be all, see you guys later.**


	3. Chapter 3: Azur Lane

**I always left notes on the end of each chapters but I feel I should address this on the beginning.**

**I couldn't find any CANON source that details on Epoch-class ships and their hull numbers, what I found is a fanon source and as I said earlier I don't want to take a reference from fanon, it's like taking someone's idea and I don't like it so I will stay with my own.**

**Chapter 3: Azur Lane**

It was another peaceful and quiet afternoon in Azur Lane base. The birds sang their songs, a melody of serenity carried by the gentle breeze of sea wind across to the whole base, offering a calming effect to the whole populace as they went on their daily routine.

The base itself was large, spanning almost half the island it was built upon. Tall white command building and sturdy looking supply depots complimenting the structures, but the largest of all were the docks and shipyards poisitoned on the shores where most activity occured. Hustle and bustle of a military base could be seen on the shipyards where various warships resided, either being repaired or upgraded with the most recent technology. While on the docks girls with various ages were lost in their own business, chattering or just killing time with their friends, completely unaware with a pair of brown eyes watching them from afar.

Commander David Allenforth sat behind an open window of his office, sipping a cup of tea Prince of Wales brought him earlier during her visit. The blonde haired woman had been a great help for the Commander, always offering a help in doing the most boring part of his job; paperwork, along with Belfast. While the headmaid often busy with chores, Prince of Wales on the other hand was basically a part of the base top-brass so she never exactly left the command center and by extent his side.

He had learned to never question the dedication Royal Navy ship-girls possessed, especially those close with Queen Elizabeth who they seemingly agreed as their de facto leader and queen. As long they did their jobs right, he wouldn't comment their way of living. Even their grandeur royal-like living they copied from the actual royal family of their home country.

The Commander was on a break after a meeting with faction leaders, if a video conference could be called that, of each nations consisting Azur Lane. As usual their main point of discussion was the Siren and their activities on each's regions and how the fleets repelled the attack, also as usual it seemed Northern Parliament still had their hands full fending off the inexplicably agressive fighting the Siren gave them. It's still unclear why the Siren had stronger presence in the north pole, even the Iron Blood before their retreat from the alliance would occasionally report growing activity in the Atlantic Ocean. It's a shame they lost such powerful ally, and seeing how things turned to be they seemingly gained a powerful enemy instead.

Without Iron Blood monitoring the northern sea, they had to rely on Royal Navy to keep a watch there. Such strategic place couldn't be let fall into enemy hands, lest they would eat a cannon shell in the face. The tension near West Coast of Eagle Union also been putting HIGHCOM in strain, with impending conflict near the horizon everyone had their fingers on the triggers. The Commander had read the report about the mobilization of Fast Carrier Task Force 58, consisting mainly of Essex and her sisters, to a battle ready condition in preparation to repel Sakura Empire's growing threat.

It reminded him of the Old War, and he didn't like it one bit. They were supposed to fight the Siren together, not fight each other when there was an obvious enemy out there, they shared a common goal of mankind survival for God's sake.

David ran his fingers on his short hair, feeling it prickling his hand. He tried to maintain military discipline on the base by keeping it regulation short, hoping to at least being a figure the girls could look upon. This base, afterall, wasn't an ordinary military base and he couldn't just apply the harsh rules of military life, not when there's some girls that barely mature yet.

The world had changed, that was for certain.

The Commander sighed wearily, it was another dilemma he had the first time Command pointed him as the new CO of Azur Lane. He didn't enjoy sending kids into war, kids young enough for them to call him uncle, and he's only on his early thirty. But these ship-girls, their efficiency couldn't be denied they completely rendered old naval tactics useless, as much as he hated it he must admitted it they're the only chance humanity had to win against Siren.

If he was honest with himself, he liked it better when ships stayed ships.

Taking another sip of his tea, he idly fidgetted with the corner of a specific document on his table. It was the document detailing about the unknown anomaly occuring above Pacific Ocean hours prior. He had read it for countless time now, taking in every details trying to find any faults or errors in the informations with no result. The Commander certainly hope it was just a joke, because if what he saw was correct and it's a part of Siren then their chance of winning the war might have decreased hundred folds, as if it's not low enough already.

A few hours after Enterprise and the group's departure, Helena reported of a new message from HIGHCOM saying they finally figured out the unknown construct's actual size and what they believed it was. David was sure it's probably the most shocking moment in his life when he heard that the construct was some sort of vessel with a total length two and a half kilometers. A vessel with unknown origin and unknown capability, they had all the reason to believe it was Siren considering they often brought techs beyond modern, which this ship's design undoubtly was.

Just by remembering it was enough to make him anxious. Suddenly the thought of going into another war with Sakura Empire was more comforting than being in war with such being, because for once the theory of it being a Siren actually made him afraid.

But right now his concern only focused toward Enterprise and the girls following her. Hornet tried to assure him Enterprise going to be alright but he doubted it, that girl had a bad tendency of pushing herself too much she sometimes neglected her own well being afterall. Besides, with the newly acquired informations he only wanted them to return home safely, he didn't want to be the one explaining to their sisters they went under, especially to Yorktown and Cleveland's sisters. The former he was sure would be devastasted but the latter was a wild card, he didn't know how Montpelier would react.

_What am I thinking anyway_. The Commander thought to himself with a grimace, getting rid of the horrid scenario. The girls gonna be fine, they'd be back before he knew it, he refused to take the alternative as answer.

David stared at the open sea, watching the sunlight glinting on their surfaces with gentle rolls of the waves punctuating the display, he tried to ease his mind once again, to be lost on another moment of solace. Right now the impending conflict between nations was not his concern, his job was to take care of the girls and fight alien menace threatening the whole humanity, no stress there.

At least that was the plan.

A sudden commotion on the docks caught his attention as many of the Destroyers and Cruisers suddenly rushed to the place, they ran frantically trying to reach their destinations in time while the more heavy Battleships and Aircraft Carriers directed them. The Commander stood up, calling the first girl passing near his office window.

"Javelin! What is happening?!"

The blue haired Destroyer came to halt on her track, waving at the Commander excitedly, he couldn't help but to notice her weapon on her grip. "Enterprise's group is back! They alert the base for their arrival!"

"Enterprise is back?" David mumbled as Javelin continued on her way, his brows furrowed together in concern. "Why would they alert the whole base?"

Something was not right and he knew it. The Commander quickly grabbed his naval cap on the table and put it on, going for the door in haste. He was just finished to open it when Prince of Wales greeted him from the other side.

The blond haired woman was slightly surprised with his sudden action but she quickly recovered. "Ah, Commander. I was just about to inform you"

David nodded, leading the way out of the command building with Prince of Wales in tail. "What's the situation, Wales? I've heard Enterprise orders the whole base into full alert" He asked, rounding a corner where Cleveland's three sisters passed by him all but sprinting, barely noticing his presence.

"Yes, Commander, that's the gist of it. Apparently they found another ship-girl they believe as the vessel we told them to investigate"

The Commander paused, glancing at Prince of Wales warily. "Is it Siren? Is she hostile?" He asked with no small amount of trepidation. If the unknown ship was truly hostile they had to prepare medical treatment for the returning girls, no doubt they gonna need it.

Prince of Wales shook her head, indicating his concern was not true, it was a relief for the Commander. "No, but she claims she's a part of UN"

That caused him to frown in confusion. "UN? The United Nations? Since when do we have that kind of ship? You sure with what you say?"

"In accordance to what Enterprise said" Wales stated matter of factly. They had reached the outside world, the blinding glare of the sunlight forced the Commander to tip his cap lower all the while processing the new information. "Also, sir, there is one more matter to address"

David merely nodded to let Wales continue, the amount of informations he got in one day had to be enough one more wouldn't make much difference. "What is it?"

The blonde caught on beside him, staring at his eyes intently, at that moment David knew how wrong he was.

"The unknown's name... Is Enterprise"

* * *

"So let me get this straight"

A voice from her side broke the space ship's train of thoughts, her helmeted head moved toward its source, finding the same blonde haired girl who had been nagging her for the last few hours. "You said you have the same name as my big sister?"

"Yes" The armored girl replied simply, leaning her body back against the superstructure of the very same blonde's ship manifestation.

After their first encounter and many questioning later they decided to bring her to this 'Azur Lane' alliance they claimed specialized for ship-girl warfare, saying her questions were going to be answered once they back at base. Enterprise refused to believe what they said, a possibility of them being enemy in disguise was still present but after a little bit of convincing she finally relented. Besides, they were the first group that didn't directly threat her so that's a plus on her book.

Still, she had too many questions Enterprise needed a moment to organize them. And this girl with ridiculously revealing clothing seemingly adamant to bother her with as much questions if not more.

"But how is that possible?" The blonde cried out with her arms crossed on her chest, pacing back and forth on the flight deck all the while mumbling to herself.

"I might need an answer for that question myself" Enterprise muttered, she stole a glance toward the other Enterprise who was standing on the bow of the carrier with her back facing her, noting how she still had her damaged equipments on her. Unlike her friends, the silver haired woman seemingly dead set on staying vigilant near her even though they were the ones who convinced her to trust them.

How ironic.

With a sigh, she let the Aircraft Carrier be, staring forward to the port side where the other two ships were sailing. One was a Light Cruiser she identified as the lead ship of Cleveland-class, the USS _Cleveland_ CL-55 and another one was a Destroyer type specifically the fourth ship of Sims-class USS _Hammann _DD-412. What caught her attention the most was their human manifestations especially Hammann and her animal traits.

It was... Strange. Enterprise never thought she would see something like that, or anything in this world in general. Ships turned to human with some having animal traits. When she first asked them about it they said it was pretty common between the ship-girl, claiming some not just animal but even demonic traits like horns or some sort.

This place, she wasn't sure what to make of it, she wasn't _supposed _to think. All she wanted was to get answers about her conditions and link up with the rest of UNSC forces for possible one last battle for Earth. Certainly Reach had fallen if her last hours had something to say about it, and if the planet fell then Earth going to be next since Reach was literally the front door to Earth.

With her new body, they might have a little bit of chance to hold the Covenant for a bit longer while evacuation was under way. She possessed a firepower and durability of a full-fledge Heavy Carrier while her form was reduced billion folds than her original body, with that kind of asset what impossible to achieve now was possible, it opened up more chance in naval tactic and engagement.

All she had to do was to report her finding.

"Hey" Enterprise called out, stopping the pacing woman mid-step. "You claim Enterprise over there is your sister, yes? Then you must be USS Hornet?" She asked, trying to mask the little bit of bitterness in her tone. She, afterall, almost blew _the _Enterprise with her MAC. Had it not been for the other woman's quick response she might have disintegrated her.

Luckily, Hornet didn't notice the underlying tone, Enterprise had concluded this girl was rather oblivious about things and more to go to lucky type. She grinned at the recognition, grabbing a fistful of her hat and tipping it side-way. "Yep! That's me! Third ship of Yorktown-class Aircraft Carrier; USS Hornet!" She declared proudly, puffing her already ample chest.

Enterprise blinked owlishly at the action. "So, you are American ship?" She queried with great interest, only to received a confused look in return.

"I'm a what?"

Hornet's response raised an alarm inside her head and she tried to reiterate her question. "Are you a part of United States Navy?"

"Um, no. I'm from Eagle Union" Hornet replied just as confused, looking at the space ship oddly with her own troubled expression.

_Eagle Union?_ _What?_

The information yet again insinuated more questions rather than answers, as if the idea of encountering World War 2 era vessels wasn't ridiculous enough now the United States had a different name.

Enterprise needed to make sure.

"What is Eagle Union?"

"It's uh... Where I came from, a nation on the west side of the planet consisted of a federations of smaller countries. I rarely come home though, only been home a few days ago and already deployed back to Pacific so I'm not too familiar with the look out, just for your info" The blonde paused, a small smile graced her lips for a briefest of second before it disappeared. "It's kinda sad I know so little about my homeland but... Pacific is where I belong for the last 30 years and before it so I'm not complaining. Besides, this is my home now with my sister and friends with me, at least they are here and I'm not alone by myself like before"

Enterprise didn't respond to that, fully aware with what Hornet was implying. According to history CV-8 was sunk in 1942, this girl had died and was lost in the cold of sea. That alone must put a strain on her.

She honestly didn't care about it.

"So you never heard of this America?" Enterprise queried with clipped tone, it's all business for her.

"Nope, never. Y'know I'm not the brightest between my sisters but I'm certain I never heard of this America"

There was a moment of silence as both ships stared at each other, Enterprise tried to find any hidden lie on the blonde's green eyes while Hornet held her curiosity. When she was sure Hornet was being truthful Enterprise finally broke their gazes with a stiff nod.

"What is this place? Where am I exactly?"

"What do you mean?"

"This planet... What is this planet called?"

Hornet's eyebrows arched upward, for her the question must be beyond weird. "Well, this is Earth. I thought everyone knows that"

"No, that can't be..."

"Huh, what?"

"The Earth I know doesn't have..." Enterprise paused, motioning toward herself and Hornet with her gauntlet. "Us. The Earth I know doesn't have human-ship entity like us"

The surprised look on Hornet's face morphed to a deep frown at her statement. "To be fair, we are not exactly human either. We are known as _KANSEN_ by the humans"

"KANSEN?"

"Kinetic Artifactual Navy Self-regulative En-lore Node" Hornet explained tactfully to the space ship.

Enterprise scoffed. "That's mouthful, the short term would be sentient ships then. Why 'infection' though?"

"Huh?"

"Kansen is a Japanese word with literal meaning infection or contagious, are we considered ill by the human?"

Hornet's eyes widened at her question, clearly horrified. "What?! No! Now I don't know what 'Japanese' is" Enterprise opened her mouth to ask but closed it again after a second of consideration. "Nor did I know Kansen literal meaning but now I know, I think it's because of the way we're reborn. You know, Wisdom Cube and all"

"Wisdom Cube?"

"Yeah... It's uh... Hard to explain. It started 30 years ago when human still fought the Siren with steel-hull ships, whenever a Siren's killed they produced a small essence of their existence in a form of small cube people called Wisdom Cube. When this cube comes in contact with steel-hull ships it would manifest the souls of the said ships, that in turn allows us to have human-like appearances" Hornet chuckled, gesturing toward Hamman who wasn't so subtly staring at them both from the port side along with Cleveland. "With some having additional attachments"

"How is this Wisdom Cube work to be exact?" Enterprise pursued the subject, this by far was one of the most interesting prospects she had encountered aside from having a human body and the unknown adversary known as Siren. If she found a way to make more ships to be like herself it would be a great advantage for UNSC, granted once she deemed it's safe enough.

Hornet however merely shook her head in answer. "Nobody knows exactly how, mankind has been trying to unveil the secret of Wisdom Cube for 30 years but nothing noteworthy has been discovered so far"

Once again Enterprise tried to detect any lie but all she found was a resigned truth. "Understood"

Another moment of silence prevailed as a gentle sway of waves rocked the Aircraft Carrier, Enterprise rested a hand on her abdomen when a shot of pain travelled up all the way to her head, clenching her teeth until it subsided. She tried to disregard it but the more she ignored it the more difficult it become to breathe. She closed her eyes and leant her head against the metal wall on her back.

"Hornet" A voice from behind her caught Hornet's attention, the blonde spared the armored woman a final glance, noting her shallow breathing and clenched hands, before turning around to face the source.

Her sister stood a few feet from her, face as stoic as ever. "Ah, big sister! I was just asking a few things to this cooler Enterprise" Hornet said half-jokingly, she had to admit the other Enterprise looked cooler in appearance than her sister with her futuristic armor, and her sister always looked cool.

"So I'm aware" The silver haired girl replied emotionlessly, whether ignoring the jab or straight up didn't realize it as Hornet's attempt to tease her. In an instant, Hornet's grin turned to a more awkward one. "I need to talk to her"

"Right, sure... I guess. I'll check on Hammann for, you know, stuff, make sure she's doing great" Hornet bolted toward where the other two girls were standing, bristling when she felt her sister's gaze all the way. "Yo, Hammann! How's it doing?"

"Huh? What?" Hammann replied dumbly as Hornet all but launched herself to pputthe Destroyer into a playful head lock.

The Aircraft Carrier vaguely heard Hamman's dumbstruck complaint, turning her attention to the woman before her instead, in an instant her expression hardened. She bent low to meet the sitting girl's visor and glared at where she supposed the eyes were.

"Is this somekind of sick joke?" She growled, glaring at the black glass covering the other woman's face.

The helmeted head shifted, a single word left the person behind it. "Explain"

"For all I know I am currently the only active ship bearing the name Enterprise, no other ship in service has the name" The silver haired girl paused, purple eyes narrowing to a dangerous slit. "What's your name exactly?"

"I'm telling you my name is Enterprise, second ship of Epoch-class Heavy Carrier"

"There is no ship with that class under the affiliation of United Nations Security Council!"

Both women fell silence, one had a confused look on her face while the other was breathing heavily from her sudden outburst. Hornet, Cleveland and Hammann were all gone quiet, looking at both Enterprises worrily but none had enough courage to intervene to their conversations, especially after their Enterprise's uncharacteristic action.

"Security Council? What the hell are you talking about?!" The armored one demanded, this time confusing the Aircraft Carrier instead.

"You said you are a part of UNSC, Isn't that the abbreviation for United Nations Security Council?"

"Wha-no! It's United Nations _Space Command!_ A military, exploratory and scientific agency of Unified Earth Governments. It's not the long disbanded, half-assed excuse of a council UN had back in the 21st century" The space ship explained to the Aircraft Carrier. "What kind of backwater of a planet is this to never heard about UNSC? Having World War 2 era vessels as models for this new technology is one thing, but using this tech without sharing it with the UNSC is another, had this technology come in possession to the Navy we might have chance to win the war"

"What are you talking about?!"

"All discovery deemed beneficial for the advancement of human race must be handed over to UNSC for further development and application, this planet not just deviates UNSC Article of Science and Exploration but also UNSC Inter-planetory Law of Governance by having a Non-UEG affiliated governing body" Recited the Heavy Carrier, she leant forward to put herself eye level with the Aircraft Carrier. "And this is no Earth, if it is someone would have picked my SOS and sent help instead of an investigation party claiming they're a part of an unknown alliance unregistered in any database, with possession of knowledge beyond science yet still utilizing ancient military assets as their forces. A lot of this doesn't make sense to me so you must know the only reason I coming with you is to question whoever in charge of this whole situations"

Despite her earlier shock at the bold statement, the Aircraft Carrier quickly recovered. "Then what? You think people would just believe it with your claims? That you are a space ship associated with an interplanetary military organization? Because I'm telling you, people wouldn't. The farther humanity ever goes to space is the moon, the only space constructs mankind builds are a bunch of satellites orbiting the planet"

"What year do you think this is? 1970?"

"1975 to be exact"

"Exa- I beg your pardon?"

The bending girl straightened up, taking a step back to put a bit of distance, face contorted into a scowl. "It's 1975, thirty years since the end of Old War and the start of Siren War"

"Are you telling me I'm travelling back in time?!" The space ship belowed in disbelief, her own temper starting to rise because however she looked at it, it just plain ridiculous.

That was the last straw for their audiences, Cleveland nudged Hornet on her side, giving the taller blonde a pointed look and gestured toward the two Enterprises with her head, the message was clear that they needed to do something else a shoot out happen, knowing full well the distrust was thick in the air.

Hornet grimaced, not really wanting to be the one to intervene but still stepped forward, hands raised in placating manner. "Alright guys, let's chill for a second okay? I'm sure we can find a solution, and if what she wants is to speak with the Commander then I say we let her"

Her sister's head snapped toward Hornet, expression tight. "I'm not allowing this girl anywhere close to the Commander. Too much risk"

"Yeah as if I don't feel like taking risk by following you all" Countered the other Enterprise.

"That's your own call, nobody forced you to follow us"

"Regulations states I must take all actions necessary to make sure I'm working in full capacity and right now all I need are informations, just be grateful I'm taking peaceful approach"

"Regulations from what? A fictional military organization?"

"A military organization dedicated to ensure mankind survival first and foremost"

Hornet moved to grab her sister by the shoulder and guide her back a step. "We're not getting anywhere" She muttered to herself, sighing tiredly. "You supposed to be the cool one, what's the given?"

"I merely want to make sure she's not a threat, I contacted the base and asked a few matters regarding our guest here, they said there is no ship with such designation and class in service within United Nations Security Council"

"That's because I'm not a part of UN Security Council!"

"Okay! Okay!" Once again Hornet cut in before the conversation could turn to another heated debate, glancing at her sister worriedly. Her Enterprise rarely lost control of herself, and seeing how she acted so repulsively to the new girl was concerning for the blonde. "We started up pretty rough, how about we redo the introduction?" Hornet proposed, smiling in hope to ease the tension visible in the air.

"... Fine, I supppose"

"Great! So, I'm Hornet and over here is my sister Enterprise" Hornet gestured to her side where her sister was silently glaring to the sea, apparently trying to calm herself, it made the blonde smile appreciatively before she turned toward two other people onboard "And over there are Hammann and Cleveland. We're a part of a military global organization specifically created to fight an alien entity known as Siren, under the banner of United Nations Naval Special Warfare Unit called Azur Lane. Our unit is the main force of Pacific Fleet, and my sister and I are a part of Task Force 17, well, what remains of it anyway"

"We were initially consisted of 3 Carriers" Hornet glanced toward her sister when she suddenly piped in, her voice soft and steady. "But after our older sister's crippled there is only two of us now. I... Think I owe an apology for my actions, it was uncalled for but after recent events I need to stay vigilant especially against unknown like you are"

"That makes the two of us" The space ship confessed, nodding in acceptance, if they're willing to forgive and forget she would do the same. "Detailed informations regarding my origin are classified but for the sake of diplomacy I will resort to general knowledge known by the public. I'm the second ship of Epoch-class Heavy Carrier, UNSC Enterprise, I was a part of UNSC Battlegroup Leviathan and was the second command vessel on the group below UNSC _Leviathan. _I'm under affiliation of United Nations Space Command, a military, scientific and exploratory agency of Unified Earth Government and is currently the acting emergency governing body for the whole of mankind"

"Okay, so you're a part of UN, that indirectly makes us allies" Hornet deduced, she didn't want to stress herself on the prospect of another humanity so she decided to act professional for once. "If what you said is true that you are a space ship, then what is your intention in this world?"

"Acquires informations, especially ones regarding my conditions, then raly with the rest of UNSC forces. However..."

"However...?"

The space ship pursed her lips. "There is... A bit of complications on my end that might render the latter impossible"

"Are you damaged?" Hornet asked with noticeable concern on her tone. She gave the armored girl another once over, trying to assess the total damage she got with no fruition since she didn't know her full form. However that didn't mean the dark burn spots on her plating went unnoticed by the blonde, along with the deep cracks on her abdomen. There was some indication of missing parts too, especially on the helmet, what seemed like a metal tube on the side was completely burned off leaving nothing but an exposed internal wiring.

All across her form there were various markings, colored in white pain as a contrast to her dark grey-ish armor sans the big metal tube of a weapon on her back which had a black and yellow pattern of hazard warning near the lower base, but other than that the weapon was painted with dark color too. On the newcomer's left chest plate, some sort of symbol was printed, Hornet wasn't sure what it was due to the scorch mark marring it but she could still make out the open wings of an avian creature, possibly an eagle, and the round object below the said assumed eagle. A faded sentence also present on it but it's too unclear.

On the right chest plate however was a more familiar designation Hornet had seen countless time on an entirely different person. The blocky letter 'EN' sat above the woman's claimed hull number CV-600, while her full name was displayed vertically on the sides of her thighs all the way down to the knees, right next to the dual handgun like weapons she possessed.

Hornet had seen similiar weapons on Sheffield, but these were different to what she's familiar with.

_Come to think about it, this girl claims she's a Carrier but I never seen any Carrier this heavily protected and armed..._ Hornet silently mused to herself.

"Sort of, my overall conditions are still rated as operational though"

Hornet snapped out of her reverie, looking up to meet the woman's dark visor instead of her collection of weapons. "What kind of damage? We have repair ship on base, she's capable to fix almost everything" She said with no small amount of confidence, Hornet of course was refering to her and her sisters' long time friend; Vestal, who had been with them three since the Old War.

"No, I'm afraid not this one. If you're being honest, that today's 1975..." The space ship began sarcastically "Well, let's just say you won't have the capacity until centuries later"

Her response didn't go unnoticed by the Aircraft Carriers, Hornet sighed and tried to convince the Heavy Carrier once again. "It is 1975"

"That something I still need to confirm"

Hornet shared a glance with her sister. "Look, I don't know why you're so dead set to deny it but we're being honest here, it's 1975"

Her sister nodded, emphasizing Hornet's statement. "If you really need proof, then I guess you can talk with our Commander. However you must take that rigging of yours off first"

"My what?"

"Your equipments, your weapons and armor fusing to your body is called rigging" The Aircraft Carrier explained, gesturing toward her flight deck on her side. "We need to work on trust, we let you see the Commander but you have to trust us too"

"You know I'm fully capable to gather informations by force, right? I don't owe you all anything"

"You could do that, I've seen what your weapon capable to achieve" The space ship muttered something along the line 'not at all' but the so called Grey Ghost pointedly ignored it. "But do you really wish an unnecessary bloodshed?"

"I don't enjoy fighting, if that's what you mean, and I prefer peaceful exchange, although you must know I'm fully adhering UNSC standard Rule of Engagement Procedure and authorized to neutralize any threat directed to me"

"Then we'll make sure to not threaten you"

The space ship nodded, standing up to her feet. The height difference was palpable between the three with her armor and all adding to her already impressive build, dwarfing the Aircraft Carriers almost a head.

"Then show me how"

* * *

Back at the base, another moment of silence prevailed once again. This time however instead of a peaceful and relaxing one it was a tense kind of silence. On the dockyards, lines of Heavy and Light Cruisers assembled in a defensive positions, some were on the water and some stood on the docks themselves, mixed with smaller and more nimble Destroyers. Nobody uttered a word as they watched over the horizon waiting for the arrival of their friends.

A few meters behind the main formations, the Commander stood at ease with his hands behind his back. His calculative eyes scanning his surrounding searching for anything that might hinder his ships. Thanks to the sudden alert, all activity on the docks had ceased, no cranes were moving to unload supplies and all repair attempts stopped at where they were, in other word it's a total silence on the once busy docks.

Flanking his sides were Prince of Wales and Warspite, both Royal Navy ships were fully armed to the teeth and ready to fight at moment notice. Illustrious was also with them but she held her position a bit further back with the other Carriers, their air groups soaring high in the air conducting Combat Air Patrol.

"Any news?" The Commander asked to nobody in particular, but his girls were competent enough to take the initiative of replying.

"They shall arrive sometime soon, Commander" Said Wales, peering through a pair of binoculars.

David nodded, inhaling deeply. His girls were all getting anxious, a quick glance around him proofed that, with the waiting. At this rate he just wanted something to happen already rather than to have someone accidentally blown something wasn't meant to be blown off later with how stiff the air felt.

Everyone was still jumpy, especially after the last time they got attacked. He couldn't blame them for that, beside a little bit of anxiety kept the mind sharp, and he needed them just sharp.

"Commander!" A blue haired girl ran toward him, breaking the silence with her rapid footsteps. The Commander turned around to face the coming girl.

"Helena? What is it?"

The Light Cruiser huffed an air before replying, clearly tired from running all the way from communication center. "Enterprise's group is detected coming from 275 degree West, they're making final approach to docking now"

Prince of Wales handed him her binoculars, wordlessly the Commander accepted it and directed his enhanced gaze toward the direction Helena stated. True to her word, he could make out three silhouettes of ships sailing toward them.

The sight brought a relief to David, he smiled softly as he scanned the ships for any damage and found none. Cleveland was still afloat, looking proud as usual with Hamman on her starboard aft, Hornet led the formation as the flagship and was on the front most of the group.

"Wait one, I'm picking up something" Helena suddenly declared, holding a finger on her Radar suite on the side of her head. "It's a radio signal, transmitted on friendly frequency"

"Enterprise'?"

Helena nodded, handing David a pair of headsets "Most likely, Commander". She turned toward Prince of Wales and Warspite "Enclosed channel 3".

"Understood, setting to channel 3"

The Commander put on the borrowed headsets, handing his naval cap to Prince of Wales and listening to the buzz of static. All around him the ship-girls mentally switching their internal radios to the designated frequency, another advantage the Kansen had was their ability to stay in touch with each other or anything reachable by radio due to their rigging. It almost same like when a Carrier connected herself to her flight groups but instead of a limited mental link this method of communication allowed them to talk directly just like in regular radio.

And talk Enterprise did, through the static her voice suddenly broke in.

_"This is Enterprise, prepare for Manifestation. Do not, I repeat, do not agress no matter what might happen"_ She warned, confusing a lot of the girls present on the docks with her statement, they began to chat with each other wondering the meaning behind Enterprise's word. The Commander however just kept his eyes steady to the coming group on the horizon.

He knew why Enterprise warned them.

Manifestation was a term used to describe the phenomenon happening when a ship-girl undo her rigging, which in turn would transform the said rigging to the ship's original form as a steel-hull. The action would reveal the real form of a ship-girl.

The Commander knew why, most ship-girls on base didn't.

Far on the open sea, now roughly only ten of kilometers from the base, a swirl of small blue lights shot up from onboard Hornet, these lights were emanatted from hundreds of cubes consisting the formation giving the illusion of blue fire or a flurry of thunderbolt to whoever watching the occurance. They quickly swarmed to one single spot on the starboard side of the Aircraft Carrier forming another Aircraft Carrier of the same class as Hornet; her older sister Enterprise.

The newly transformed Carrier had seen a better day, that was for sure. David couldn't help but to frown when he saw the extent of damage Enterprise had yet to repair, even with the distance he could still make out the cracks and various chunks on the surface of Eagle Union's greatest Aircrafts Carrier's hull, complemented with her destroyed superstructure which rested on her flight deck like a broken concrete wall, completely blocking the runway and her ability to launch aircraft. Enterprise was also listing slightly to her port, most likely due to a breach on her hull.

_I shouldn't have given her the permission to sortie_. David thought regretfully, he didn't want to be the one explaining to HIGHCOM that their best fighter went under due to disrepair especially when the said best fighter fell on his care.

"Is Vestal on stand-by?" Asked the Commander to Prince of Wales, he tried to change his thought from the worst.

"She is ready on dry-dock 3. I don't think she's in good mood after what Enterprise had done, Commander"

"She can scold Enterprise later after she fix her, hell she can do whatever she like to Enterprise, but first I want her done and running at a hundred percent again"

"It will be done"

"Good" David muttered, once again diverting his attention to the coming ships when another beam of light appeared. "Now let's see what we are dealing with"

The second wave of light was more intense, far more intense than what he had seen in any other ship-girls Manifestation before. It's so bright it actually engulfed Hornet and all other ships around her in a blue light of Wisdom Cube usually found during transformation, however a hint of purple also visible amidst the hue like a thunder cloud in an otherwise white cotton.

All of the ship-girls around him began to murmur, commenting about the unusual intrusion of change. The Commander looked at Prince of Wales and Warspite only to find both blondes frowning in deep thought, jaws clenched as if to suppress themselves from doing something while Warspite gripped the hilt of her sword tightly on her side.

Something was troubling both Royal Navy ships.

"Look!" A shout from the front of the formation drew the Commander's attention, he refrained from asking Wales and Warspite in exchange to it. Javelin was standing on the Destroyer line along with Laffey and the Fletchers, her hand raised toward the position of the coming fleet.

"What the hell is that?!"

"You've seen anything like that before?!"

"It shot up to the sky!"

"Commander!" Prince of Wales stepped forward to the Commander's front, expression hard. "I must urge you to return to Command Center until we figured out what is happening" She declared, signaling toward Illustrious and the other Carriers to put their CAP groups on alert.

David however merely shook his head, putting a hand to Wales' shoulder and guiding her back. "No, I need to see this myself"

"But, Commander. We don't know what we are dealing with"

"Exactly why I must find out by myself, and that's final, Wales" David said sternly, fully aware with how diligent she could be when it came to duty.

Prince of Wales seemed to argue at first but then she relented with a heavy sigh, gaze shifting between the Commander and the pillar of light on the far sea. "Very well, but if something does happen you must get back to your office immediately. We cannot afford to lose our commanding officer"

"You have my word" The Commander assured the Battleship, sparing her a glance before returning his attention seaward.

When the beam of light finally receded back another anomaly occured, this time on the blue sky itself. High from above the cloud surface a dark grey-ish metal construct emerged, its color contrasting against the white of cloud like a stain in otherwise pristine fabric, a stain with multitude of smaller discolored specks courtesy of its damaged state.

The not so sudden appearance of the massive vessel swept fear to the presence girls, Norfolk fell flat to her bottom with a startled squeak, Ausburne and her sisters all but gone rigid, while the rest of the Cruisers and Destroyers expressed their discomfort in their own way. The Clevelands however kept sharing a glance to one another worriedly, it's obvious who they were thinking about.

A meek tug on his sleeve caught the Commander's attention, he glanced to his back at the source which none other than Helena. The Light Cruiser was trying her hardest to keep a straight face but David could see a hint of fear on her eyes too just like on the other ship-girls.

"Commander?" Helena asked in a mere whisper. "What is going on? What is that thing?"

Helena's question brought the nearby ship-girls' attention to the Commander, they stared at him expectantly for an explanation. The sudden drop of situation made David grimace in response, he straightened up and addressed the presence ships "I will debrief all of you later but rest assured it's not a threat we are looking at. Enterprise has given the all clear message, from now on this is officially a welcoming ceremony for a new ship-girl"

They didn't seem convinced but they trust his judgement enough to not question it, the Commander was totally fine with it as long as they kept on doing their duty at their best potential, they were free to have a doubt or two. Sweeping his gaze around, he nodded at Belfast when their gazes met, receiving the same gesture in return from the maid, before taking the headsets on his head off and gesturing to Prince of Wales to hand him back his naval cap.

She wordlessly complied, exchanging the white Navy attribute with the piece of communication equipment. When the Commander also handed her back her binoculars however Wales paused for a brief second to search his expression, as if to ask him how certain he was.

David kept on silence the whole ordeal, and it was enough of an answer for Wales, the binoculars were removed, and now with his hands free he could finally assume a perfect stance with his hands clasped behind his back and feet spread apart, ready to welcome the new arrival.

A loud rumbling sound, akin to a distant thunder, emanated from the sky. Four small dots zoomed in toward the base with extreme speed, with each passing second the objects were getting bigger and bigger until it became clear the objects were none other than aircrafts, aircrafts with the same color of the massive construct heading their way and design just as foreign, their blue trails of afterburners following their wakes.

The squadron of aircrafts easily broke through the CAP provided by the Carriers, it caused a small panic amongst the Carriers themselves as they bypassed the patrolling aicrafts with sheer speed alone. Despite it none had ordered the patrol groups to give a chase knowing full well if the passing aircrafts tried to kill them then the whole dockyard would already be leveled to the ground.

Besides, it's not like they would be able to catch up the unknowns anyway with how fast and agile they soared through the sky, clearly a testament of an advanced aviation engineering.

The small squadron continued on forward, breaking to two formations and flew high to the sky in yet another display of extreme climb rate, they then circled around the base in a non-aggressive manner, providing a recon and patrol to their command vessel.

A command vessel which continued to launched more of these aircrafts.

* * *

The first thing they noticed was her gargantuan size.

Long dark metal surface stretched for a good few kilometers forward, shielding the sun itself from reaching the sea. The scale difference was so frightening for the small group, especially for a tiny Destroyer like Hammann, she was completely petrified on her spot beside Cleveland while the Light Cruiser all but slackened due to shock, rendered speechless.

Hornet managed a _little bit _better compared to the two, by better which she needed to support herself on her superstructure all the while fighting the nauseous feeling buillding up on her belly. A construct that size messed up with her perception to the world around her it seemed like everything was stretching for the poor Aircraft Carrier. Her sister actually gasped in surprise and had her jaw dropped to the floor, it's the best Hornet had seen her usually stoic Enterprise expressed her shock.

The second thing they noticed was how quiet everything was, despite cruising at 20 knots the space vessel oddly silence. They had seen how rocket was launched to orbit during a patrol duty back on Union sea and how loud they were, but this ship which undoubtly worked in similiar way didn't emitted any engine sound. It unnerved Hornet at first because she feared the vessel might fall and crush them to smithereens but it held itself steady in speed and altitude.

The next thing they noticed was the loud screech of jet engine coming from the vessel's underbelly as aircrafts with unknown design quickly taking off to the sky. Four of these aircrafts made a plot to the base while the rest formed a patrol group around the space ship in standard CAP patterns. Hornet decided to call her own CAP and ordered them to examine the grey-ish ship, unsurprisingly they reported of a multitude of damage on her hull scaling from a mere blast mark to a complete break down of structures.

The last thing they noticed was the unknown woman standing at where the other Enterprise was standing right before the Manifestation occured.

The woman was tall, maybe eight centimeters taller than both Aircraft Carriers. She had a shoulder length raven hair with a hint of grey on the tips, matching the color of the vessel overhead, fair white skin, and a set of incredibly red eyes they reminded Hornet of a dying star she saw on a picture once. What caught her attention the most however was the face she had, or its structure to be exact.

It's similiar to her older sister's.

The resemblance was so uncanny Hornet's mind came to a sudden halt thanks to it. She dumbly looked between the space girl and her older sister back and forth trying to discern any difference but other than her eyes and hair she basically looked the same as her Enterprise.

Her attire also spoke of her character, black cloak encasing her frame giving a mysterious vibe around her. The said cloak covered her body from shoulders down to ankles, completely shielding her. Her military issued boots however were still visible, colored in dark green drab of a forest floor.

There were a few markings too on her cloak, just like on her armor. The assumed eagle turned out to be true, it was some sort of identifying symbol of her allegiance judging with the blocky string of 'UNSC' across the eagle and the expansion it perched on, printed in white paint on the front above her heart. Hornet stared at the word 'United Nations Space Command' for too long, still trying to process her running thought, it was unbelievable but with all the proofs she saw it's undeniable the woman had been sprouting nothing but truth all this time.

She was a space ship created and purposed.

_Oh geez, I'm not built for this._

"That... feels odd" uttered the space ship, staring at her steel self with deep frown on her face.

"Tell me about it" Hornet mumbled in return, she squinted her eyes trying to see the bow of the massive vessel with no fruition "Were you always this big?"

"Two-point-five kilometers, height 785 meters"

"Two-point-five..." The blonde trailed off in disbelief, she could put 10 of Essex sisters and they wouldn't still be enough to cover her entire length. "You must be the biggest vessel out there!"

"Not really"

"Wait" The Aircraft Carrier Enterprise cut in, drawing both women attention. "There are bigger ships?"

Her counterpart shrugged nonchalantly, staring at nothing but her fingers as if they were the most interesting things she had ever seen, considering how she didn't even suppose to have one they probably were. "I'm one of UNSC Capital Ship classes, but I'm hardly the biggest in the Navy, that would be the Punics"

"And how big are these 'Punics'?"

"4 kilometers, roughly"

_THUD!_

All eyes were drawn to Hornet's port side when a loud sound of something heavy crashing down resonated in the air. Cleveland blinked dumbly, looking to her side at where Hammann was standing only to find the Destroyer laying on the deck face first, fainted due to shock.

"Huh, Hammann?! Hey, you okay?!"

Cleveland rolled the unconscious girl to her back, patting Hammann's cheek in a futile attempt to wake her up, all she got in return however was a muttered '4 kilometers' from the Destroyer.

"Ah, crap. Now we have to tow her back to base"

The convoy came to a halt, keeping a steady close distance with the adrift Hammann. Hornet moved to her aft in preparation to tow Hammann back to base after telling Cleveland to transfer the unconscious girl below her deck.

The Light Cruiser grunted in response, picking up Hammann off the deck and walking into Hornet's superstructure, muttering an apology to both remaining Carriers as she passed by them before disappearing behind a bulkhead.

The silver haired one grimaced. "You must refrain from disclosing such informations in the base unless necessary" She addressed the other Enterprise pointedly, all the while deliberately avoiding her gaze. The similarity of their faces disturbed the Aircraft Carrier greatly, especially when such face was adorned with an unfamiliar expression.

"Noted" The Heavy Carrier replied in a curt tone, she then changed the topic to its original. "Do you believe me now?"

"It's... undeniable, you really are a space ship"

"And?"

"And no matter how I look at it, it seems this UNSC really does exist"

"Thank you! I was starting to doubt myself too" There it was, another sarcastic response, it seemed it was one of her ways to cope with the situation. "Now can we please cut the chase and be honest to each other?"

The Aircraft Carrier shook her head, expression grim. She stared at the space ship in the eyes hoping the other girl to understand the gravity of the situation. "You don't get it, there is no trick on the play here, we are all being honest. It is 1975 and we never heard of you or your organization" With her helmet being absent it was easier to detect the doubt the other Enterprise had. "Listen, I know it's difficult but you have to trust us or we will never reach a common ground. You are far from home as far as I know, simply put you either came from a distant space or the Siren did something and brought you here"

"They capable to do that?"

"They capable to do many things. It won't be the first time they brought an unknown from faraway places, and a kilometers long vessel won't be too far-fetched either"

The space ship frowned at the statement, crossing her arms and leant on her left leg in an attempt to ease the weight on her abdomen. "How advanced are these Sirens actually?"

"They are considered as hyper-advance by our scientists, their technology is beyond anything we've seen some people even said it's imbued with magic"

"Tch, there's no thing such as magic. Anything advance enough becomes difficult to distinguish of between but there is always a scientific explanation for them, maybe I can start to find the answer myself"

"You can do that?"

"Well duh, UNSC ships are technically a giant flying guns with science backing it off. We are equipped with the latest research technology to support expeditionary mission, complete with a group of scientists as a part of permanent crew on my..." The Heavy Carrier suddenly trailed off, her eyes wide in realization. She didn't have any crew left on her, not even a single human of UNSC origin, not even her ages old Captain, everyone was gone and she was all alone in this unknown world. How she even operated was beyond her understanding but she could feel every inch of her being, both metal and flesh, like they're a part of her soul.

It just there, every corners inside her hull, every bulkheads and open compartments, all the holes and battle scars she had were imprinted on her very core just like her human form was. Enterprise knew she had total control of herself, even without crew manning her stations. She didn't realize the feeling earlier because she was too busy experimenting with her new form but now if she wanted to she could even make out a single bolt on the deepest part of her most closed structure.

But still, the deafening silence on her hallways unnerved her, not a single soul exist within herself, not even one of her hundreds of crew.

_They're all dead, ceased from existence. I should have too but somehow I ended up in this place with such confusing and depressing situation._

_Was I even alive before?_

Another shot of pain travelled from her belly, this time more intense than the previous ones. The Heavy Carrier hissed, clenching her side in a desperate attempt to null the burning sensation with no fruition, barely registering the alerted calls her companion gave her as the world suddenly grew darker and darker around her.

She expected herself to hit the hard and unforgiving flight deck, instead a pair of slender but strong arms caught her before she did so. Her pain induced mind didn't allow her to think of anything other than how comforting they were, and soon she found herself slipped out of consciousness on the embrace.

_Maneuver... Maneuver out of the way to safety..._

_...Maneuver what to safety?_

_Ah I need to rest a bit..._

"Holy shit! holy shit! holy shit!"

Hornet who just finished connecting herself with Hammann quickly ran toward where her sister and the space girl were when the giant vessel above them suddenly capsized toward its port and descended to the water surface rapidly. It seemed like the other Enterprise suddenly lost power and just fell from the sky itself like how she feared she would.

_Oh shit no I don't want to be squeezed to death!_ Hornet thought in a mix of panic and fear, she hastily jumped onboard her flight deck when she was close enough and changed her course to her starboard so she was heading opposite from where the space ship was falling to, engines full right rudder.

Only when she was sure she wouldn't crash on her sister's aft side she realized her sister didn't changed her sailing course at all and still steadily moving in even speed and direction toward the base. Hornet was about to warn her when she noticed the person Enterprise was holding.

"What is going on?!" Cleveland suddenly bursted out from the bulkheads separating Hornet's superstructure, panting in exertion obviously had been running from below deck all the way up. "I see she suddenly loses altitude!"

"I don't know, one time she was talking and then she just staggered on her feet and lost her consciousness" Explained the silver haired Aircraft Carrier as she gently settled the girl she was holding down. "I am not sure with what she did but I think she steered herself away before she passed out"

Hornet blinked, true to her sister's words the giant vessel plummeted port first to the sea a few hundred meters from their original positions, even had she not changed her direction it wouldn't crush her. Still, the effect its sheer momentum carried was enough to produce a high wave which travelled all the way to the base.

The blonde felt her keel shuddered as it tried to compensate the impact, it's almost like having her spine blasted by a giant loudspeaker on point-blank. Since the wave was coming from her port side her beam couldn't break the wave they were forced to kneel lest they lost their footing and fell to the sea.

"She's not dead is she?!" Hornet yelled amidst the creaking sound and the splash of water on her hull.

"No, but she's got a fever" Replied her sister, putting a hand to the cloaked girl's forehead before adding "A bad one too, we have to give her treatments, fast!"

"I can't sail any faster with Hammann roped to me!"

"Leave it to me, I currently have the highest speed amongst you guys" Cleveland proposed, gesturing toward the unconscious girl. "I need help in transfering her to my ship though"

"Got it!"

Enterprise took a step back as her sister heaved her counterpart, she unceremoniously carried the girl in bridal style before jumping off of the deck with Cleveland in tow. She watched as Hornet settled the other Enterprise on Ceveland's deck before she hastily made her way back, leaving Cleveland alone to carry the space ship to the base.

The Light Cruiser didn't wait any longer, as soon as Hornet was cleared of her way she quickly put her engines into flanking speed, outrunning both Carriers in a wash of sea water. Halfway to the base she was joined by her 3 sisters whom quickly did a full turn and fall into a standard escort formation, none spoke a word but Cleveland caught Montpelier staring at her with noticeable concern on her usual stoic face.

Cleveland gave her a reassuring nod.

**_TBC_**

**Well, that was it I guess.**

**To be frank I already finished this chapter a few days prior but I was getting anxious in uploading it.**

**You see, I've been in Halo community for a few years now and I'm fully aware with how... Difficult people can be. I've seen some random persons throwing tantrums at some authors in their story because the said story doesn't go like how they wanted it to be and I kind of afraid the same thing would happen to me, but then I decided no matter what people say I know better how my story will proceed and what best for it so I will continue it no matter what.**

**Doesn't mean I'm telling you guys to stop giving critics, heck no don't ever stop, but just bear with me okay. I would always appreciate any form of ideas, thoughts or feedbacks you guys give me as long as it beneficial for me and the others.** **Besides, you guys have given me nothing but positive reviews so far and they really have lifted my spirit.**

**Regarding first chapter and a mess of grammar it has... Well, my English is not perfect but even I have to admit I kind of had it uploaded in haste so there's that, I'm planning to fix what I can later but yeah, _later_.**

**So anyway, h****ere's something I want to share with you people regarding my story:**

**-I have a tendency in reforming a whole world of the series I make a story of, the more the plot holes are the more I can exploit and in the end I usually ended up creating a world of my ow****n, you can see its telltale on this chapter.**

**-Enterprise had a partner AI, I will reveal about it in later chapters. She was aware with her surrounding before she was exposed to Wisdom Cube but not in a great extent, also I will reveal more later.**

**-Enterprise's armor is the classic Mark V, although I like Prototype's design but it's too bulky for this kind of situation. There's reasons why I make her rigging as simply as I can and not like Friedrich der Grosse's oversized equipments which loomed on her back like a pile of metal.**

**Again, I appreciate your reviews so far, they've been a great help for me and I hope you guys keep it coming.**

**Until next time.**


	4. Chapter 4: The Other Side

**Chapter 4: ****The Other Side.**

There's limit for everything.

A fundamental belief in life was that there always a limit for everything. Nothing was infinite, no such thing as endless, what lied on the end was the very limit itself. Afterall, the phrase 'edge of universe' did exist, the vast expense of space wasn't spared of the prospect either.

And for mere human like David himself, the said limit was something more simpler.

As Cleveland came to docking and the emergency team hastily dispatched with Vestal leading them, he couldn't help but wonder what kind of dream he had last night to suddenly receive this much of responsibility and burden so suddenly. If someone was to ask him about his thoughts regarding the occurance, he would answer with a tone full of disbelief;

"I'm gonna need a lot of Whiskey to deal with it"

The amount of surprises in that day was a bit too much for him, what was supposedly a normal Thursday turned into a hectic one in just a few hours. He should have known anything coming from HIGHCOM could either be too good or too bad, but the bad usually outchance the good most of the time.

Today's a good example for it.

"Pardon me, Commander, did you say something?" Prince of Wales asked him from his side, clearly concerned. She must have caught on his distressed expression.

David sighed, running a hand over his face. "No, nothing. It's just a bit unexpected, today that is"

"That is an understatement, Commander"

"That is, Wales, that is"

Arizona and Nevada finally emerged from the ramp leading to a now docked Cleveland steel form, both Battleships carrying a stretcher with a single person on it. David walked towards them, towering above most ship-girls accumulating on the area, in that moment the Commander finally got a glimpse of the space ship human form as they carried her through the crowd of curious ship-girls.

To think there wouldn't be another surprise, he should have known better.

"She looks like our Enterprise" David commented after getting a good look out on the unconscious girl, watching both Battleships went to the base medical ward.

"The resemblance is... Uncanny" Said Wales in agreement, she then gestured toward his side when Cleveland and Vestal finally made their presences known.

The Light Cruiser was engaged in a deep conversation with Vestal, motioning wildly with her arms as she answered whatever question Vestal gave her. She seemed distressed, worried beyond anything as she explained the situation.

"It's clearly a reaction of her immune system, the gradual worsening of her condition I mean. It is possible it was caused by the multiple breaches on her hull she then exposed to a radiation of space"

"C'mon now, it mustn't be that bad"

"It's a possibility we can't eliminate so no reason to not believe it either. Is there something that might clue us? Her antics while she was with you people? Odd behavior or maybe a complaint or some sort?"

"I'm not really sure either since she spent most of her time during our travel isolating herself, as a matter of fact she only talked when Hornet initiated the conversation a few hours prior"

"So no complaint?"

"She didn't strike me as a kind of person who would even if there was something bugging her, she did seem tired though"

"I see, so aside from distressful gesture whenever she moved her abdomen area she didn't show any other symptoms?"

"That's what Hornet saw and told me"

"Right. Then that is that, I'll see what I can do. Hopefully her condition isn't as bad as I thought. Thank you, Cleveland, I'll be on my office if you need anything"

"Sure, Vestal"

The Repair Ship smiled, patting Cleveland on her back reassuringly, apparently the gesture was enough to ease Cleveland a little bit because she let out a deep relieved sigh afterwards.

Vestal was one of the oldest ships in Eagle Union Navy, naturally she had the motherly charm and was looked upon as a figure the younger ships could rely on. The fact she was responsible to keep everyone healthy also played a big role.

"Vestal" The Commander called out when Vestal passed his position, catching her attention. "How's our guest?"

"I yet to determine the extent of her injury, Commander. However initial examination revealed she suffers a severe burn wound on her abdomen, again I still have to make sure what the cause since honestly I have never seen anything like that"

He frowned before asking again. "What do you mean?"

"I'm not sure, Commander, but the wound itself... Well, let's just say it's completely burned it's like the area around it is deprived of any moisture usually found in similiar injury" The pink haired girl shuddered, mind flashing back to her earlier inspection. In her years of service, fixing and patching countless battle-damaged ships, it was the first time she saw burn damage to that extent. "It's like charcoal, a horrendous wound really"

David grimaced at the thought. "I see. I don't think I need to say this but you know how important she is"

Vestal hummed in acknowledgement. "Yes, Commander, I'll do my best to fix her up"

"Good, inform me when she's better"

Vestal nodded, picking up her pace to the base medical ward. David watched her go for a few more seconds before diverting his attention to the remaining ship-girls presented. "What you see today must not leave the base, it's a direct order" He said, eyes narrowing into a dangerous slit. He needed to make his girls understood the gravity of their situation. "Starting from now the base will be put on alert, all personnel must be armed until further notice. The usual patrol will also be tripled, understood?"

"Yes, Commander"

"Understood"

"Alright"

"Leave it to us, Commander"

"Good" David smiled appreciatively, he knew he could rely on them. "Do me proud, girls"

As the crowd quickly dispersed to start their duty, Prince of Wales stayed behind along with Warspite, Helena and Cleveland. The former then asked "Commander, what shall we inform HIGHCOM?"

"The intel about the anomaly was coming from top-brass itself, there was no way to keep them in the dark. Someone will start to ask a question or two" Cleveland piped in, staring at her sisters as they maneuvered near the port's entrance in obvious devensive manner. Ever since the giant vessel's sudden fall they had been rather dead set keeping their distance close to her.

Talk about overprotective sisters.

David waved the concern off, running a hand over his short hair. "You don't need to worry about that, I've got a plan" He said reassuringly in hope to drive their thoughts from what basically his job. "Cleve, can you please give me the full recollection of the first contact?"

The Light Cruiser shook her head, an apologetic smile adorning her face. "Sorry, but the one who actually did it is Enterprise, I'll tell you what I know though"

"Please do, we all curious about it" The Commander urged, gesturing toward the other ship-girls who nodded in return.

"Right" Cleveland straightened up, her façade morphed to that of a soldier when facing her superior, serious and void of any emotions. "Five hours after our departure from base, at approximately _zero-six twenty_ hours of local time, we detected a sudden anomaly of Mist Sea a few miles from the possible crash site, much or less confirming our suspicion that Siren was indeed present in the area, following this their influence to the weather kept on getting stronger until a storm was created. Three minutes after the initial anomaly, Enterprise ordered general quarters and the five minutes following it were spent with Hornet launching her aicrafts to patrol. The rough sea condition made it impossible for Hornet to spot the enemy or the mission objective but at _zero-six forty-five _Hornet reported of an enemy flotilla consisted of _fifteen _vessels"

Cleveland paused, closing her eyes in concentration to recall the freshly acquired memory. "Enterprise ordered Hornet to conduct an attack run to enemy group, meanwhile Hammann and I were left to provide cover for them both. Enterprise then took an unprecedented action and rushed forward, leaving our group in full speed. We tried to catch up but the storm prevented us and we lost sight of her due to it, we looked for her in the next twenty minutes and when we found her she already met the other Enterprise who was actually responsible for taking out the enemy fleet, in contrary to our earlier belief"

Warspite tilted her head questioningly at Cleveland's last statement. "Earlier belief?"

"We thought Hornet's airstrike eliminated them, but there was a lag of information from her flight group"

"She still capable of offensive action despite her damage?" Prince of Wales asked with a small nod toward the fallen vessel, addressing it.

Much to their surprise, Cleveland snorted cynically at the question, a far off look on her red orbs telling a silent story. "You would be surprised. She claimed she took them out with a single salvo of her missiles" She directed her gaze to the others, her usual cheerful and carefree expression was gone, replaced with a grim realization. It was enough to send shiver down everyone's spins including the Commander's when their eyes met. "She destroyed them without lifting a finger, Commander, and that firepower she possessed is enough to tear the Siren apart they couldn't disappear, if their burning debris said something"

"How frightening..." Helena mumbled but thanks to the silence permeating in the air it was heard clearly.

"The eggheads would be howling in excitement if they find out there was Siren debris in the ocean" David mused to himself, trying to push the implication of what Cleveland said away. One of the reason many couldn't acquire Siren's technology was because whatever left of them would disappear in a specific period of time after their 'deaths'. It's a rather morbid occurance with almost no scientific explanation and it had been pinning a lot of scientists' heads to the table for long time now.

The only way to get a hold of a Siren, was either by capturing them while they're still operational or by completely destroying them to pieces like the case Cleveland was saying, in other word it could be a catch and snatch or blow and tow depending on the situation, both scenarios were also on the same level of difficulty which was near impossible.

"And you believe this claim?" Prince of Wales queried to Cleveland, only to have David cut it off.

"Her appearance speaks power, whoever built her clearly intended to emphasize it. A space ship capable to overcome the danger space possesses must have the best offensive and defensive capabilities, she obviously the finest ship in this planet and probably one of amongst her peers"

It was believed that the Siren was the most advanced being on earth, they had weapons beyond what human understood the grasp of such as laser and other energy based weapons. Their ships were made of an unknown material, light enough to be aluminum yet its durability surpassed that of steel, it's so resilient the Research and Development group had to create a special composite rigid ammunitions for smaller warships to be able penetrating the armor plating.

Their more conventional weapons used a type of shell that was like a combination between High Explosive and Armor Piercing, it couldn't over-penetrate thin armored ships like Destroyers and Escort Aircraft Carriers yet it had enough power to punch through thicker section in Battleships. They managed to capture a few of this 'Super-Shell' and after a bit of work it was revealed the round had some sort of program that automatically determined the explosion timing, controlled by a small computer chip, unlike the usual shell which used fuse to trigger the explosive matters contained.

Siren excelled in both Naval and Aviation engineering, but they didn't have ground unit. Perhaps the only comfort humanity had was that they could live safely in land without the constant death threatening them, relatively speaking. It was just like a terrible joke, human were robbed of the places beyond their reach and were forced to stay on land where they supposed to be.

At least, that was until this other Enterprise's emergence. A ship powerful enough to take out Siren with single shot, carrying with her a complement of aircrafts with performance above Siren's. Her form was also big enough to probably house the whole base and her range included a whole planet if not inter-planet which was the most likely.

She, no doubt, might be the finest ship for the next few centuries.

"That's been said, we must do something to ensure her safety. We can't let her fall to enemy hands" The Commander turned to address the ship-girls present. "I have a new order, form around"

The sudden change of tone caused the four ship-girls to straighten up, they moved closer to the Commander while cautiously watching their surrounding for any unwanted listener. "What is it, Commander?"

"First, I want a group of patrol near that giant vessel for security purpose, nobody goes in anywhere a kilometer sort from her, she's kind enough to not shoot at us but who knows what would happen if we start sticking our nose close. I don't want to lose anyone because of unnecessary reason and thus no touching no matter how curious you are" The Commander turned towards Prince of Wales. "You'll be in charge of this unit, take whoever you need for this operation, the Cruisers, Destroyers, Battleship, hell even the tugs are on your disposal"

"It will be done, Commander"

David nodded "Good". He then addressed Cleveland "Are you good for another deployment?"

"I'm ready as always" She replied, her confident self returning in full force.

"Then take CruDiv 12 along as a screening party, I know how anxious they were so it'll be better if you show your sisters around"

Cleveland smiled sheepishly in response. "Yeah, they always been like that too"

"What about me, Commander?" Warspite asked with tone filled with nothing but seriousness. "Is there something I can do to help?"

"Actually yes, you'll be responsible for security team. I want you and Belfast to guard the medical ward where our guest is" The Commander paused as a loud rumbling sound tore the sky, he watched as the unknown aircrafts previously scouting his base made another fly-by in an extremely low altitude as if looking for something before they disappeared once again into the clouds overhead.

_No, it's not something, but rather a someone now._

David had never seen a Kansen-based aircraft act like they did, as a matter of fact he never seen Kansen-based aircrafts still operational when the Carrier they were from was incapacitated. Usually whenever a Carrier lost consciousness they would also lose the control of their summoned aircraft, and that in turn would make the said aircraft disappeared. But these aircrafts instead of disappear they seemingly acted on their own accord to protect their Carrier.

It was... Eerily unusual.

"Helena, hand me the headset back will you?"

The Light Cruiser blinked as if to awaken from a stupor, Helena quickly recovered and put on a professional image when she noticed the Commander was waiting for her. "Ah, sorry. Who do you want me to connect the line to, Commander?"

Positioning the borrowed headset onto his head, David adjusted the volume first before answering. "Get me in line with Hornet"

Helena silently complied, mentally switching the required frequency. The Commander meanwhile gestured towards the remaining girls that they were dismissed all the while listening to the buzz of static, patiently waiting for Helena to do her job.

It didn't take long.

_"Hornet here, Commander, something you want me to do?"_

The Commander went straight to the point. "I'm appointing you as the lead ship of the Carriers, I have Prince of Wales assembling a group of patrol to protect the fallen vessel, cooperate with her and the rest of the ships and provide cover until further notice" David paused, mentally calculating the remaining distance between Enterprise's group and the base as Cleveland blew a horn to signal her departure from dock on the background. "I'll have someone to tow Hammann back to base, Cleveland has told me what happened to her"

David would have found it humorous at Hammann's rather comical reaction when she saw the giant vessel had he not felt related to her, it's rather understandable for the Destroyer to pass out like that when she had the said vessel looming above her like a titan. He would feel uncomfortable too if the vessel was above his base.

_"Um, actually, she just regained her consciousness now, we're preparing to detach as we speak"_

There was a grunt from the other side of the line, most likely from Hornet as she tried to secede Hammann from herself. The Commander waited until she was finished to relay his next order but before he could speak a familiar voice cut him off from Hornet's side.

_"Who are you talking to?"_ An unmistakable female asked with tone void of any emotion other than mild curiosity, earning a frown from David.

Hornet yelped in surprise, a muttered curse left her mouth before she replied. _"Geez, stop scaring me like that, big sis, were you trying to live up your nickname or what"_

_"You should be more aware with your surrounding"_

_"Nobody would notice it when someone soundlessly appears on their back"_

A pause, David could picture Enterprise staring at her sister with her emotionless but calculative eyes. _"Who are you talking to?"_ She repeated to Hornet, this time the curiosity was replaced with annoyance.

Hornet must have detected it since she practically blurted out her answer. _"It's the Commander! He asks me to be the lead for the Carriers!"_

_"For what purpose?"_

_"He is ordering the girls to patrol near the cooler you grounded steel form... Can you even call it grounded? Since she's a space ship?"_

David ignored the last comment so did Enterprise. _"The Commander orders another operation? Is he still in line? Can he hear me?"_

The sudden urgency in Enterprise's tone caught Hornet off guard, David of course was still connected on the line and had been listening both sisters' squabbles since the beginning, still, he kept his silence to see what was Enterprise planning.

_"Uh, yeah? He's still there, right Commander?"_

"Affirmative"

_"Yeah, he still there alright"_

_"Well, Commander if you can hear me then I would like to propose myself in Hornet's stead as the Carrier lead ship on this operation, I have the experience of working in joint-operation too and more than qualified for night operation"_

She said it in a tone filled with nothing but facts, and David had nothing to deny it. He was fully aware with Enterprise's abilities in battle, about her greatness and seemingly never ending luck, but luck was not a solid deciding factor in combat and it tended to run out sooner or later. Judging with her current condition, Enterprise was getting closer to that limit.

Helena seemed to think about the same thing, she also had been listening to the conversation since she was the one relaying his message through her communication suite. The blue haired girl averted her gaze from Enterprise's approaching form as if the mere thought of looking was hurting her, shuffling an inch away from the Commander.

David patted her shoulder reassuringly, giving Helena a slight smile that worth his answer before returning his attention to Hornet.

"Hornet, relay this next message to Enterprise word by word. Your proposal is denied, I deemed your damage is deleterious for this operation, the fact you need your sister to communicate with base suggests you also lost your communication suite and how impaired your performance is. Return to base immediately for repair and debriefing" David let out a deep sigh, rubbing his face tiredly. "I need a full recount of the preceding events and nobody is suitable enough for the job other than you, the one who did the first contact. Fill me a report and finish it tonight, Home Base, over and out"

There was a muffled 'wait' from the other side but David ignored it as he handed the headsets back to Helena. The Light Cruiser was staring at him with wide eyes full of surprise. "You refused her proposal?"

"With her current condition, Enterprise is nothing but a hindrance to the others regardless how good she usually was. Besides, I know she can't stay doing nothing, that's why I have her compiling the report" The Commander chuckled dryly. "That would keep her busy for a while, at least enough to give her enough rest"

This time, it was Helena's turn to smile upon hearing his reason. "Thank you, Commander"

"... I know we are together here, untied by nationality, and I have sworn to put aside mine when I accepted the rank as Commander for Azur Lane. However, Enterprise is still our nation greatest fighter and a friend for many, I don't want to be the one sending people out into unnecessary death"

"But it was all to us"

David frowned at the cryptic statement, the way it was spoken, so matter of factly, bugged him. "What do you mean?"

At first, Helena didn't answer, she once again averted her gaze away from him to stare at her boots instead. David had resigned himself to believe she had refused to answer his question when she suddenly whispered "We are just a machine, originally built for war and fighting, the very existence of our being is created for those purposes. We would... Never be human"

The confusion swelling inside his mind morphed to anger and disbelief. "Why all of sudden?" David asked through gritted teeth, barely containing his emotions.

Helena wasn't they type to think of such odious thoughts as far as he knew, she had her moment of contempt but low esteem of existential value wasn't her area of thinking. There must be something that started it.

"... When we back at the Union, Hornet invited me to go out from the base we assigned to at that time" Helena began, wrapping her arms around her body in an attempt to comfort herself. "It was the first time I went out of the base since my arrival, you know? She said it would be great for me to look around and get my bearing so I agreed"

David silently listened to her story, keeping an utmost attention to it. He knew where it was heading before Helena finished but to hear it from _someone_ under his care directly felt different than reading from a report or news. It felt more outrageous, so to speak.

"Hornet took me to this cafe just near the downtown, a place called Sky Kid I think. It's a nice shop, the owner and his daughter are kind and there's this kid who would play harmonica on the corner along with a pilot from the Air Force who is also a custom there. They sell sweet and it tastes good, Hornet and I spent almost the entire evening on that place" A distant gaze settled on Helena's purple eyes, along with a ghost of genuine smile filled with sheer happiness on her lips. It's rare for her to have such expression and David was honestly taken aback for a second, but when her content expression changed to nothing but her usual solemn look it also pulled him from his surprise. "It's maybe our fault too, you know? Maybe if we hadn't stayed longer it wouldn't happen in the first place"

"What happened?" The Commander asked softly, in the corner of his mind he knew the question was useless but he wanted to make sure Helena understood he was paying attention and that he cared.

Helena visibly shivered and with each sentence she spoke next David felt his jaw tightening. "I don't know who he was, but a man suddenly came in to the store and started yelling tantrums to us. Hornet told me to ignore him but he suddenly yanked me off my chair by hair to the floor and started kicking and punching me while screaming about me being an abomination and inhuman, how I am nothing but tool and have no right to live. I was so confused and surprised I couldn't do anything until Hornet came to my rescue, she shoved him away but apparently she miscalculated her strength and ended up breaking the guy's ribs, I honestly don't understand what Hornet meant with _miscalculated _though since I can control my strength just fine, maybe it has something to do with being a Carrier?"

David opened her mouth to explain before promptly closing it again after a second of consideration, instead a sinister grin appeared on his face before he realized the situation and wiped it away. He made a mental note to treat Hornet a drink later however.

"Don't worry about it" He assured in exchange before continued. "What happened to that guy afterwards?"

"The shop owner called the Police and the pilot I mentioned earlier contacted the base to send MPs, he was put under arrest from what I heard"

"Did you file in a charge? There's a special law about this and it requires a ship-girl's testimony"

"No but Hornet did" Helena frowned, a look of contempt adorning her face. "What do you mean with special law?"

David sighed. "The truth is, there's been a lot of assault case on ship-girls in civilian areas, you might have never heard of it since you were stationed on a detached place like Pearl which happened to have a very tolerant residents but in the mainland such occurance happens quite frequently" The Commander explained bitterly to the Light Cruiser, no point to sugar-coat it so he gave her the blunt truth. "There's also a group of extremists with goal to eliminate you guys, they believe you're a part of Siren and the military is being deceived to work together with KANSEN, saying 'they'll strike us in the back when we finally turn our eyes away from them' or something"

"But why would we do that? I'd never want to hurt innocent people"

"I know you wouldn't" David began with a reassuring smile, gesturing toward Helena to accompany him in a walk back to the Command Center, the Communication Station was nearby so they could walk together for a while before having to secede. "If you don't mind me asking, why didn't you tell me about this problem earlier?"

"I was conflicted whether I should or not, I didn't want to bother you with such small matter"

A scoff. "It's not a small matter by any chance, and that's a nonsense you are talking. Tell me, Helena, how long have we known each other?"

Helena hummed, putting a finger to her chin in a thinking posture. After a brief moment she replied. "It's been more than a decade since the attack, so I guess around 12 years?"

"Correct, it's been 12 years since we met during the attack of New York City. You know you can share your problems with me, if not as your Commanding Officer then as your friend, please don't hesitate, Helena"

Her gaze fell, guilt filling her heart. Helena nodded stiffly in acknowledgement to his offer and in an instant the burden she had on her shoulders lessened considerably. "I'm sorry" She added in quivering tone, a stray tear falling down her cheek which she hastily wiped.

David shook his head, averting his own eyes trying to give the blue haired girl a moment for herself. "Don't apologize, you did nothing wrong" He came to a halt directly on the sections separating Command Center and the Communication Station, heaving a sigh before taking the route leading to his office. "Well, this is where we go our separate ways"

He only managed to walk for a few steps when Helena suddenly called him, gaining his attention back. "Wait!"

The Commander stopped, turning around to give Helena his full attention. "Yes?"

A breeze washed over the area, ruffling the green leaves of trees sitting on the sidewalks positioned beside the paved road they were in. Helena's long hair fluttered, caressed by the gentle blow of wind, it helped to ease up her mind as she worked on the word in her mind. "I could say the same about you. You've been helping everyone since I can remember, strangers or not, regardless how you done it" Helena paused, mustering the best determined look she could as if she was heading into a battle. "That's why if you need help, especially about _her_, please don't keep it for yourself! I know how much you love her, Commander!"

The statement caught David off guard for a second but he quickly recovered, of course Helena knew about her, someone might told her about it and it also possible she was not the only one know about it. The subject was rather sensitive and the only reason nobody in base mentioned it sooner was because they respect him enough and decided to keep their silence, or maybe they were too afraid to do so. Still, this was the first time someone offered him such help and he was honestly grateful for it.

"Thank you, Helena, I will consider it" David replied sincerely after what seemingly a very long silence, giving Helena one of his now trademark smile. "Man your station, this is a rather consequential operation we are having and I cannot afford my staff to slacken"

Helena straightened up, a pang of disappointment seized her for a second but she quickly squashed it. "Yes, sir" And with nothing but a mere nod, the Commander left her alone to her own devices. Helena stood on her place watching him disappeared into the Command Center before taking her own direction, a silent whisper leaving her lips, a whisper too small to be comprehended and too weak the wind carried it away before a living being could catch it.

_"You shouldn't push yourself too hard either, Dave. She wouldn't appreciate it"_

* * *

The walk inside the Command Building was rather uneventful for the Commander. With everyone practically went out to do their duties, the area was a definition of vacant as he could imagine. Still, it was rather welcomed as he finally granted the quiet he needed to gather his thoughts especially after his conversation with Helena.

The attack in New York 12 years prior, how could he forget it when it was the day his world crumbled for the second time?

He thought he had had the happiness he yearned since the day his mother passed away in the hand of Siren attack another decade before it, he thought he could finally live peacefully with a loving family. But of course, nothing worked perfectly in this broken world they lived on, and when everything seemed just fine it was then everything became not fine so suddenly.

When he was 4, his mother was killed during a Siren air raid on his home town, almost everyone on his neighborhood fell victim to the attack including his friends and the people he considered his own family. It was the first time he saw such devastation with his own eyes and it was also the first time he saw a person got killed. For a 4 year old like him, of course it was a traumatic experience especially when that person was your own mother and he ended up living with his father for the next years.

His father was a Naval Officer, when the attack occured he was currently away doing his job almost half a country away. David thought it was troublesome having his father working in such distance since he barely met him back then, but he never felt so grateful for it since the attack could have killed him too had he been home, or he could have saved his mother. It was a big if for kid of his age so he settled with having a living dad and not a possibly living dad quickly.

Life in a military complex was not as difficult as many would say, there were also other families and it almost identical to that of civilian neighborhood, it was just that some certain rules were added to the occupants but other than that it's almost indistinguishable. It's not the environment per say, but rather the silence in the Allenforth's household that followed after the tragedy which got him pressured for the next few months.

He tried to act strong, his late mother told him he was a strong kid, but that was it, he was just a kid and there was only so much he could do.

Of course his father acknowledged this, it's not like he wouldn't since he was also drowned in his own sorrow. There were times when he would return home late reeking alcohol, and there were times when the light in his father's eyes would suddenly go dull as if lost in his own thoughts. That man biggest regret was probably his inability to save his wife and for damaging his child.

No, David never blamed his father, he understand duties and responsibilities, they're practically drilled to his head since he could comprehend letters, how they're the very top of things he must done first.

He was surprised, though, when his father decided to marry again.

It was just another afternoon like today when his father suddenly announced he would marry again, his exact word was; _"Dave, I met someone and she'll be your new mom"_

And of course, his reply was the most suitable a sane person would give.

_"Wait-what?"_

The Commander chuckled mirthfully, thinking back it was a rather absurd situation one could imagine. His father had always been a straightforward type and it often led to a lot of misunderstanding, but a redeeming quality of it was that he also had good reasons backing it off.

His father explained that they needed someone to take care of him, since he couldn't always stay on his side with works basically hounding his butt, how his father wished for someone to fill a mother's duty his late one left behind, still it's ironic how his father met his new mother during work.

Apparently, the woman in question was a part of Sakura Empire Special Force Group, and when he said 'during work' it's actually when Eagle Union and Sakura Empire held a Joint-Exercise together a few years back when his father was an XO of a Destroyer. She had been a good friend to his parents since then, and he even said she and David had met several time when he was still a baby. He of course didn't have the memory but the way his father spoke of her it almost like she was an aunt for him and it made him uncomfortable at first.

David was reluctant, but he decided to trust his father's judgement, and it turned out to be one of the best things in his life that had ever happened. His new mother was a kind person in addition to her love to him as her friends' kid, she even confessed she had considered him as her own child since the day he was born. Of course it's just an exaggeration, she just loved children in general so much, a fact David found out later on.

Although she couldn't fully replace the spot his real mother left she still filled the gap the best she could. That gap however was fully patched when that fateful day his sister came to the world.

Frankly speaking David didn't know he could love someone on the first sight, and he didn't know he could consider that someone so precious he was willing to give everything for her, even his own life, to protect and make her happy. He thought such things were silly and shallow, but he was proven wrong when he was faced by those mesmerizing blue eyes his sister had, eyes full of wonder and radiant innocence.

The day Yukina Allenforth was born, David vowed to keep her safe, even if it was the last thing he done.

People said time flew fast when you enjoyed life to your very core, but to David such thing was not correct. He enjoyed the time he spent with his sister, more than anything even, the reason time never flew fast for him was because he cherished every single second of it and recorded it to his memory. People only felt that way because they forgot of the time passed by.

When his sister talked for the first time, it was neither _mama _or _papa_ she said, it was _brother._ He didn't understand the significance of it until his mother explained it for him, to say he was proud would be an understatement.

The first time his sister scrapped her knees during her first step, David took it upon himself to be the one responsible bringing her back to her feet and guide her the right path.

He taught her how to read and write, he taught her how to hold spoon for herself, he also was the one to tuck her under the blanket at night and was the one whispering comforting nothing when she was scared. His mother jokingly remarked in various occasions how he probably overdid the role of being a big brother and at that rate his sister wouldn't need her mother anymore. Of course he dismissed it with an embarassed chuckle, not knowing what the future had in store.

It was years later when the tragedy struck.

_12 years, huh..._ The Commander mused to himself silently. It took him a few seconds to realize he had been standing in front of his office door for a while like a lost child, a vague prospect for him since it was his own base.

_Must be the fatigue..._

David scoffed, mentally composing himself inside and outside. He couldn't let his staff seeing him in his moment of weakness, not when everything was still disorganized with recent events and all. The fact his base was a new one wasn't helping on the slightest and being the Commander meant being the person responsible for extra chores regarding the operational status.

He had superiors he needed to report to.

The door across his office creaked open, a flash of white filling the corners of his eyes. The Commander turned around, surprised and curious with the presence since he thought he was alone, usually such sight was pretty common in the Command Center but with most of his girls gone doing their assignments at the open sea it was rather unexpected to meet one inside.

"Oh, Master! Pardon me, I didn't expect to meet you here"

"That makes the two of us, Bel"

Belfast stood there, a tray of empty white plates on her hands, smiling warmly to the Commander. "I was in the middle of cleaning the Secretary Office when the base went full alert, so I figured I'd finish it first since I dislike leaving unfinished jobs unattended"

"I see. Well, I cancelled the previous order for you anyway, go meet Warspite and she'll enlighten you of the new one"

"Understood, I'll go see her" Belfast said with a nod, her smile which seemingly etched with her years of experience as a maid never wavered. She excelled in putting a façade and despite the sudden change of instruction she barely showed any surprise or bafflement. "Is there anything you need, Master? If I were so bold I'd assume you could use a cup of coffee"

... And she definitely excelled in reading other people.

The Commander grimaced. "No, I can get it myself, thanks for the concern but you may go now"

The Light Cruiser blinked, a look of understanding flashed on her face for a second before it morphed back to her usual smile. "Excuse me then"

She began taking her leave, the heavy footsteps of her heels slowly fading in the background until it disappeared entirely when Belfast rounded a corner. Now alone once again, David vaguely wondered about his own expression that had Belfast noticed his exhaustion despite his best to mask it.

Works kept piling up it seemed.

With an aggravated push, the double doors leading to his office burst open and the Commander marched inside, barely sparing a glance around him before he snatched his phone off the desk with a little bit of too much force than needed.

He was about to input the dial when he suddenly hesitated.

The situation he was in... However he looked at it was different.

Reporting an attack and sorties were to be directly delivered to the Central, it's a mandatory rule Command made especially when the reports were tied with Siren somehow. But this emergence of the other Enterprise that wasn't either a Siren or registered ship from known nation wasn't part of the roster. Usually when a newly emerged ship-girl appeared it was up to the nation or organization she was on to fill in the registration whether she fit or not for combat mission, and not just for military purpose but they had a full administration of citizenship too in case when the said ship-girl was retired due to reasons.

But it didn't apply on this Enterprise, she came not from a nation, hell she was not a part of any global organization to begin with, at least not this world they lived on. There was a big chance if he revealed she's a part of United Nations then the UN would lay claim on her, and God knew what kind of things they would do to her if they got her in their grasps. It's not Enterprise David was concerned of however, but rather the UN itself, they might tick her off and the last thing he wanted was to lose a possible powerful ally.

Even though Azur Lane was technically a part of UN, he couldn't fathom all the deeds UN did as good. He hated it when military affairs were overshadowed by political ones, and UN was one of the worst place where those two could mingle together like oil and water after violent shaking, the result? it was neither of both and it only caused headache especially for the cleaning.

Besides, he had enough headache already with recent raid on his base, he definitely didn't want his front yard be littered with civilians in fancy clothing known as politicians, they had a bad tendency to dive first when they found something of their interests afterall, ignoring the warning more suitable people gave them only to blame the said people when they found themselves in deep trouble.

_They might scare this Enterprise... or piss her off and get blown by some laser gun or some sci-fi crap she has. Judging from what Cleveland said about her character it's definitely the latter_ _though..._

No matter how he saw it, it's still too soon for her to meet government officials. The Commander knew he needed to discuss it first with the person in question and do things slowly according to her own pace, and right now what she needed the most was to recover of her wounds and damages. He would take her under his care for the time being until they figured out their next move, and then they could think about the other trivial stuff.

But still, there was no way he could just leave HIGHCOM in the dark with recent events. Just like what Cleveland said, the intel about the anomaly was coming from the Central itself and they would start asking a question or two if he failed to report back, the result of such outcome might be equal if not worse than letting the politicians know of the situations, and lying could only get him so far.

No, he still needed to report back, preferably to someone with high enough stars on their shoulders so to console HIGHCOM was an easy feat. Someone he could trust that wouldn't ask too much and more action than word.

There was only one person capable enough he knew who filled the criterias.

Resolved, David began to punch in the dials, bringing the device close to his ear when he finished. The Commander's gaze idly set over the horizon where many of his ships dutifully conducting their given tasks, various silhouettes of ship classes could be seen but they didn't even hold a candle compared to the giant metal construct protruding from the sea, he barely recognized Hornet's shape on the frontmost of the fleet he sent much less Hammann's. The lone Destroyer probably had gone along the rest of Destroyer Division 23 since she didn't actually have a fleet of her own after what happened to Yorktown.

It's a bit sad, really, Sims-class were already limited in number to begin with, but due to her experience operating with the Yorktowns David decided to let Hammann be a screening vessel for Hornet, they considered the catgirl as an unofficial sister anyway so no hurt in doing so.

The steady tone coming from his phone came to a sudden halt and David vaguely aware how he stiffened unconsciously when a female voice replaced the tone.

_"Norfolk Naval Military Base, how may I assist you?"_

Ever since the end of Old War and Siren's appearance to the world many military bodies in various countries had opened a more flexible services by bettering their Public Relations Agency for the civilians in case of escort request and private protection, in fact his base also offered the same service to anyone in need regardless their nationalities, the ships providing commissions to civilians were protected by the international law regarding Siren and public safety as long they stayed in international water. Not yet to mention it was not rare to have a sudden call of distress so it's paramount for the military to keep on close eyes.

Thirty years ago being a soldier meant you had a low life expectancy, nowadays the fishermen and sailors were practically lower in the scale. The seas were teeming with unforeseen dangers that could kill you the moment you sailed off of the coast so your choices were limited to either go in number or pack enough firepower to drive the threats away. Better if it was both.

The Commander inhaled, mustering the most neutral tone he could at the moment. "Azur Lane Pacific Base identification code Charlie Omega Dash Delta Alpha Dash _Eight-Four-Nine-Two-Zero-One-One. _Requesting urgent call to Admiral Allenforth, COMINT and SIGINT protection Priority One"

_"... Confirming request..."_

The dial tone changed, replaced with a steady beeping of computer program, somehow it had a soothing effect for the Commander so he let himself eased up a bit. Finally after what seemingly an eternity someone picked his call, someone with a deep and gruffly voice that somehow told David the owner was most likely annoyed by his intrusion.

_"Yeah?"_

David smiled. "What, not even a hello?"

_"This is a military channel you are using, son"_

"I'm aware" Replied the Commander, his grin turning into a frown. "Dad, something happened here in Pacific and I need your help"

_"Didn't I teach you to get your ass of the mud by yourself? If you're not competent enough to do it I'll have to reassess your position as a Commander"_

It was an empty threat, David knew his father was concerned and it just one of his way to cheer him up to deal with his problem so he didn't let himself be bothered by his rather harsh reply. "No, sir, please this one goes beyond my authority"

_"... I'm listening, Commander"_

This was it, the moment of truth. David actually hated dumping his problems to his father but he had no choice at the moment, it's probably involved the safety of humanity as a whole and his actions would determine it.

_Oh boy, what a crazy Thursday._

With a sharp inhale of breath, David began. "Do you believe the idea of a second humanity?"

* * *

Night arrived surprisingly rather quickly for the base occupants and the silence permeating in the peaceful sea surrounding it almost lulled Vestal to deep slumber countless time already. After the rush of the situations hours prior, everything fell to a normal pace and routine was restored almost immediately in the base despite the obvious tense atmosphere around thanks to military discipline taking effect.

The world might as well falling apart and they couldn't care less unless it involved the military. As if the Navy hadn't had enough jobs already.

The Repair Ship supressed an undoubtedly large yawn, shaking her head to get the blood rushing and keeping her awake for at least a bit longer. She just finished taking a shower, once again having to use the bathroom installed in her office to do so. It's almost become a routine too with many girls often returned wounded but that didn't mean she had to like it either, especially _that _girl with the title Lucky E.

The source of her headaches and many restless nights was none other than Enterprise, a long friend of her and battle buddy in war. Vestal had spent many hours repairing Enterprise, more than any other ships in her service in fact, so she had a rather intimate knowledge of her insides. There was no bulkheads she never touched and no corridors she had never ventured to, repairing her became so frequent Vestal could be blindfolded and she would still do her job just fine.

Probably.

She was not complaining though, despite the pain and troubles she had gone through. Vestal had made a vow to keep Enterprise safe and healthy after seeing the state Yorktown was in, and how Enterprise acted when that particular tragedy struck.

Vestal never thought Enterprise could be broken, but that day proofed Enterprise was nothing but a human inside. Regardless her combat prowess, she's still a frail being in the inside at least emotional-wise and she couldn't cope even to this day, if anything she's getting reckless and reckless.

_It was as if she had a death wish..._

The pink haired woman stopped mid-motion from grabbing her clipboard, a horrified look crossing her face before she quickly shook it off. She mentally scolded herself for having such horrendous thought.

_No, it's not like she wishes to die either. She fights because she is confused._

Enterprise's dream was to protect her people, even she went so far to oppose a nation alone once. It's true she had no choice but she showed nothing but steeled resolve in the gloomiest of days and that inspired many to pick up their fallen spirits, her hard effort granted her a great title and acknowledgement in the past.

But what's good in it when you couldn't even protect your own sisters? What's the purpose in fighting when you didn't even have a family to greet you back and to tend your wound? Physical wounds would heal but some wounds required the support of your dearest people to heal. For Enterprise, returning home and seeing her incapacitated sister served as nothing but a painful throb of reminder about her failure in keeping her own family safe.

Even a ghost longed for a tender touch once in a while.

A knock on her door caught Vestal's attention, she stood from her chair and maneuvered through the desks positioned near her little workplace. Her office was directly conjoined with the patient wards so there were only one way in and out from the said ward and whoever going in or out would have to pass through her station as a part of security measure. Not like she'd need it since usually a Cruiser would provide her security and company, and if there was an intruder Vestal would be too busy covering herself too anyway with her being a Repair Ship and unfit of actual combat.

Today however was different.

The door swung open, a headful of silver hair greeted Vestal from the other side, its owner smiled a warm and friendly smile albeit a rather peculiar one since it came with her job.

"Miss Vestal" Belfast began, squaring her shoulders. Vestal briefly glanced at Belfast's rigging, fully equipped on her body as if ready to sortie. "Routine per-hour check-up, if you don't mind"

"Sure" Vestal replied, peeking through to the hallway only to see Warspite leaning against the wall with her arms crossed not so far, she too had her rigging on her. The blonde Battleship gave her a nod of greeting which Vestal acknowledged with a small wave of her hand. "To be frank there is not much to report, it's the same as an hour ago"

The Light Cruiser hummed, stepping inside to the room, her rigging barely passed through the door sill. "My apologies for intruding at this late of hour, I understand you must be tired but Commander Allenforth is very specific in enforcing the security for Miss Enterprise"

Vestal grimaced. Right, her cause of problem this time was still a girl named Enterprise, but it's not Enterprise her friend and partner but rather an unknown spaceship capable of reducing the whole base to rubble with just her sheer size.

"It's alright, orders are orders and we're expected to follow them not to complain about them". Vestal led the Royal Navy Light Cruiser to where this Enterprise was currently on, It's not really necessary since Belfast had been to the place for like 6 times already but she felt obliged to do so. "As you can see, she's still unconscious. Her fever has gone down though and the inflammation on her wound has also started to lessen"

"Do you expect her to wake up soon?" Belfast queried, staring at the woman lying on the inframary's bed.

"She will probably wake up tomorrow's morning" Vestal replied, taking a step closer to Enterprise. "Her fever wasn't solely caused by her wound, she also suffered a mild dehydration and malnutrition, in addition I detected a symptom of salt poisoning in her blood system. I honestly don't know the cause of the last one since salt poisoning rarely happens to us ship-girls, some cases where we got it however was due to a long exposure of sea water inside our hulls but even so we have better resistance compared to human" She explained, checking the IV tube connecting to the unconscious girl.

"Long exposure? But she barely spent hours on the water?"

"Yeah, that's what baffled me exactly. Seems like she's filled with so many delicate equipments and the water damaged her somehow inside, she suffered quite a beating afterall"

"Doesn't that mean she'll continue to suffer with her steel-hull being in the water right now, Miss Vestal?"

There was a hint of concern in Belfast's tone, Vestal however merely shook her head. "No, that's not how it work. This form of hers" She gestured toward the girl on the bed then somewhere out of the window. "And that form are connected. When her steel form received a damage, her human body wouldn't suffer from it, the same goes the other way around. However when you activate your rigging, you become one with your steel form and the strain your equipments received will be transmitted to your human body in many ways, salt poisoning is just one of those ways. But there's a special circumstance when the two would connect"

Belfast tilted her head sideway, truly interested in the subject. This kind of knowledge was usually only limited to Repair Ships, they're akin to medical personnel and in many ways would act like one, learning new things was also one of her interests anyway. "Please elaborate, Miss"

"Well, for starter in repair attempt it is paramount to keep both forms at best health and integrity. We can't nurse one and neglect the other or otherwise the repair will slow down significantly, it is also noteworthy how the steel form takes a great effect on this prospect" Vestal explained, taking a seat beside the occupied bed. "When the human form is in good condition, the damages on the steel form will be repaired on its own you can even say magically. When the human form is wounded, repairing the steel form will help in the recovery greatly, it's a symbiotic relationships we are having with our steel forms. Of course, like I said, repairing both forms at the same time would be better"

"So that's how it work"

The pink haired girl jumped from her seat in surprise when a voice suddenly piped in from her back, turning around, she was faced with a sight she wasn't prepared for.

"Y-you don't suppose to wake up until the next morning! I gave you enough medicine to keep a normal person out cold for a whole day!" She cried out in a mix of confusion and shock, conflicted between feeling impressed and horrrified.

The bed creaked as its previously sleeping occupant sat up, her maroon eyes scanning the area around her, pausing on the IV tubes running down to her hand and Belfast who had her guns pointed toward her. "Well yes but apparently it's not enough" Enterprise replied casually, sparing Vestal a glance before her gaze settled back to Belfast. A look of warning flashed on her face when the headmaid still had her weapons out. "Relax, I don't bite. I knew someone who did though"

Vestal grabbed Belfast's shoulder to gain her attention, there was something off about her antics which Vestal didn't quite understand. "I have to inform this development to Commander Allenforth, can you please accompany her for a second?"

The Light Cruiser nodded stiffly, not even giving Vestal a look. Her eyes dead set on the sitting Heavy Carrier and although her main battery had returned to stand-by mode her posture was still too tense it's seemed she was ready to jump into action at moment noticed. "I will manage"

Her reply made Vestal hesitated but she quickly resolved herself into trusting Belfast. "Okay, I'll be quick"

With that, she made her way out, pretty much jogging to her destination when she vaguely heard Belfast muttering 'please do' in return. Vestal practically barged through her office's doors, startling Warspite who guarded the hallway outside.

The Battleship made a confused look after she composed herself. "Miss Vestal? Is something wrong?"

"She has awoken, I have to inform the Commander"

In an instant, a switch seemingly flipped inside Warspite, she quickly entered the medical ward without even a word. Vestal who just finished rounding a corner frowned at her action, the fact Warspite had her hand resting on the hilt of her sword when she entered made her worry. Something was off about the Royal Navy ships and that something was telling her she needed to talk to the Commander ASAP.

_They wouldn't try to harm her, right?_

* * *

For once, David found himself staring not at the open sea but to the countless stars on the night sky.

Their pulsating lights, the infinite number, and the seemingly never ending vastness between those lights... He never paid them much attention previously. But now, after knowing what lied beyond those distance and the possibilities in them it's only befitting for him to look up instead of forward for once.

He was sitting on what probably was his favorite spot in the base; exactly behind his office's large window. It offered him unobscured view to the outside world, also probably his only source of entertainment when he's on his office, things could turn boring fast when all he had to look onto were nothing but plain walls.

Still, he'd look at the see every now and then, ever since he was a child he liked to stare at the stretching blue nothingness, maybe it's because he had an attraction to sea or perhaps it was just a mere effect of living on Naval Base half of his life. Either way, this time he had a good reason why he looked at it.

Powerful shipboard searchlights illuminated the area near the fallen vessel, some of them were pointed at the vessel itself courtesy of the Battleships and Destroyers. The giant metal construct had stopped slipping under the waves after a third of its form went submerged, a sign it was pretty much designed to retain buoyancy and not just to operate in space, the Commander couldn't fathom just how much thought her designer put she seemingly capable to outright withstand every scenarios possible for a military hardware.

Simply put, there always a plus and minus which sometimes were due to limitations in construction, for example the Iowas were considerably had weaker torpede protection and low resistance against underwater explosion thanks to their armor layouts, a layout the Navy was forced to use because of the beam limit Panama Canal had. So designing a spaceship with such configuration was just sound surreal, usually the engineers would just focus on the main function while omitting other possible scenarios especially the unlikely ones.

_Like a badly damaged starship with enough holes on her hull to make her a Swiss cheese taking a dip to the ocean._

He had to ensure that ship was on his side, and even if not at least not on his opposite. There was only so much they could do if she decided to go into rampage.

David's peaceful moment was broken away when his office doors suddenly flew open. In an instant, military training took control and he just jumped out of his chair and kneeled behind his table, his Personal Defense Weapon issued since the start of his service out and pointed toward the person who just suddenly barged in.

"Commander! She-" Vestal stopped abruptly mid-sentence, her hands shot upwards almost instinctively when she noticed the handgun on David's grasp. Such weapon might never pose a threat had she had her rigging on her but when she hadn't just like now it was just as lethal when used to normal human.

KANSENs weren't superhuman, they were but being with enhanced capabilities when they had their rigging on, no more and no less. It's true some of them might have strength above that of normal people depending on their ship classes but without their rigging even a handgun could kill them and all it took was going to be a well placed shot to vital area such as head or heart.

"Goddammit, Vestal, I could have shot you!" David bellowed, storing his weapon back after he realized it wasn't threat standing before him. "You better have good reason to barge in so suddenly"

The pink haired Repair Ship exhaled her shock, mentally willing her racing heart to stop pounding rapidly inside her chest. It's pretty unusual for a Commanding Officer to just pull a weapon out of blue like that but considering recent events it's normal for David to act like he did, Vestal didn't blame him for it. "Commander, she has awaken"

In an instant, a switch seemingly flipped inside David's head. He stopped abruptly from organizing his desk, eyes focused toward Vestal. "I thought you said it'll take her a full day to wake up"

"I did say that, and I did give her enough medicine to make even a Battleship asleep for a whole day"

"Well then this is truly unprecedented" David muttered, taking his naval cap and put it on his head. "Not that I expected any less though" He swiftly moved besides his desk to exit his office with Vestal following in trail. "About her condition?"

"Right, you didn't really get to read the latest report but all I can say is that she's definitely getting better, it just that I didn't expect her to wake up so soon"

"And what about that odd substance you found on her wound? Any clue?" During her earlier report, Vestal mentioned something about a weird yellow-ish substance on Enterprise's abdomen precisely on her wound. It's hard like ceramic but the composure suggested it wasn't entirely like that before, it's probably liquid or gel-like which later hardening.

"Apart from how it seemingly acts like a sealing and patching agent? Not much. This is just my theory, Commander, but I think it's used to seal her hull in case of breach so to not inflict further damage to her interior. I mean, she's a spaceship, the consequence of hull breach doesn't stop to just having water flooding in"

"More questions we need the answers of" He muttered to himself, rubbing his face tiredly.

Well, on the hindsight they would probably get the answers soon with their subject of conversation finally regained her consciousness. He just hoped things wouldn't be too complicated than what already were.

That was the only thing he could hope on.

**_TBC_**

**Well, crap.**

**First of I want to apologize to you guys for this very _very_ late update, I could write 10k of words in just one week but recently I was not really in the mood to write stuff. I just finished highschool and needless to say I'm currently confused with what I should do from now on forward, the anxiety is killing me lol. But don't worry, I'm fine.**

**To be entirely honest here, this chapter was actually only a half of what I originally planned, sometimes when I enjoy what I write things would just... stretch out. I decided to separate it to two chapters because I have certain scenes I would like to add, and bundling it in one chapter would be too much (I've written a chapter consisted of 17k of words before and my phone was so laggy it become too difficult to complete one sentence).**

**I'll try to finish the next chapter sooner but no promise.**

**Also here are my replies to the reviews you guys left behind on previous chapter, I can't thank you enough for your supports and critics so the least I can do is to reply them**, **fair warning though some of these might contain a little bit of spoiler.**

**\- There is no way the Epoch Enterprise going to let foreign military personnel roaming aboard her freely, assuming it's completely safe in the event of her Manifestation for them to be inside her.**

**\- I don't plan to add any Covenant vessel to the story but there's going to be a surprise and depending on you guys you probably going to like it, this is a crossover story afterall.**

**\- I fixed the Northern Parliament part in the previous chapter, I wrote it before the event and I didn't exactly know the name of Azur Lane USSR equivalent. Thanks for the heads-up, I deeply appreciate it.**

**-**** I'll try to not write the same things repeatedly too excessively, but sometimes to achieve the 'realistic' feeling I just have to do it you know?**

**\- The main theme of this story is 'value of a name'. I feel like, this prospect has greater meaning for ships because unlike human the only way we keep ships alive is by preserving their names. When people talk about _Bismarck _it's his name they would recognize first, and then his actions during the war. The same goes for _Enterprise, Yamato, _and many other great ships. When people talk about ships, it was their services people remember the most not their nationalities. Of course, the bravery and sacrifce of their crew were also an important factor because no ship sails without her sailors.**

**\- I'm afraid I can't do anything about the error in loading my third chapter, could be the site's fault.**

**Thank you for your reviews and as always please keep them coming, they're what motivated me most of the time.**

**See you guys later on the next chapter.**

**Cipher032 out!**


	5. Chapter 5: Escalation

**The world is getting crazier and crazier, man. I hope you all stay safe wherever you are.**

**Let me emphasize this once more. The world of Azur Lane happens in an alternate reality than ours' which is where Halo universe from. I will reveal more about it as the story progress forward.**

**Chapter 5: Escalation**

_She would never get used to hospital._

_The plain white corridors, the smell of medicine and the quiet and sometimes eerie atmosphere would always make her uncomfortable visiting one. As Hornet ventured the very same hallway she despised the most, she couldn't help but to think why nobody had ever tried to change the paint with something more colorful instead of the bland ones._

_It was said good heart meant good recovery, if it was her who was under treatment she was pretty sure she would never heal and instead die out of boredom on her next two hours there. She'd rather kiss the ocean floor than die in such horrible manner._

_Well, at least the people around her were a good fellow. The staff and the now semi-permanent patients like the elderly and the terminally ill had all known her as a regular visitor and every once in a while she would make a time to chat around. There was this one guy who was a sailor and served aboard her sister Enterprise during the Old War, he and Hornet got along pretty well and she often helped him sneaking a bottle of beer much to the nurses' chagrin. Cool guy he would like to visit later._

_But right now she only had one objective and that was none other than to visit her beloved sister Yorktown. It had been months since she last paid her a visit and to be entirely honest she missed her big time more than anything. Hornet had a bag full of ice cream she knew a favourite of Eagle Union ships with her, half of them were vanilla flavored which specifically Yorktown liked, she had already known they would spent the day talking together while eating it and droning around doing nothing._

_So why couldn't she move to open the brown wooden door before her? why was she hesitating the moment her gaze landed on the two syllable word stamped on it? wasn't it the same since the last time she came to visit? only when she saw her hand shook on the knob did she notice._

_She was scared._

_8 months, It was roughly that long she spent her time away from her sister doing her duty as a Kansen. A lot could have happened in such long time and she wouldn't know what. In the past, the three of them were practically inseparable, wherever Yorktown went to both Hornet and Enterprise would follow her, for them their older sister was like a mother figure than an actual sister so their bond was very strong compared to other siblings even between the other Ship-girls._

_But now, after that tragedy struck, they were forced to leave their sister behind, and to make things worse the reason behind it was because Yorktown was now crippled beyond repair. It's like throwing away a broken goods after you continuously using it, a goods that was left to dust in the corner until it too became a dust._

_Even so, for Hornet it's not the only reason she had a difficulty to converse with her eldest sister. In fact, it's just the partial reason why she barely looked at Yorktown in the eyes nowadays._

_The main reason was because she actually felt responsible for Yorktown's predicament._

_On that day, history repeated itself._

_It happened pretty fast, one time they got an order to eliminate a major Siren fleet spotted a few hundreds kilometers away from the mainland so they quickly went to sortie and block the Siren, it's pretty simple just like their usual days until they suddenly got ambushed by Siren submarines and the next thing they knew Yorktown had already sinking with a giant hole on her starboard. Damage Control couldn't do a thing with half of her hull missing already so all they could do was to watch as she slowly slipped beneath the waves._

_And Hornet blamed herself because she was away chasing a fake distress signal they detected a couple miles from their main position, had she been there she could probably set things differently and her sisters wouldn't have gotten hurt._

_Yorktown wasn't the only one scarred due to that incident._

_Her older sister Enterprise also went through a turmoil. The first few weeks after it, everytime Enterprise visited her sister Yorktown and saw the stump that was once her leg there was this fire on her eyes, a fire that didn't emit any warmth but instead a cold and freezing rage of a tortured soul. Hornet was honestly scared when she first saw it, such cold gaze was worse than the deep of Pacific Ocean she once resided on, the chilling sensation didn't just penetrate her body but also the very core of her heart._

_That gaze, however, was not directed to anyone in particular. As time flew by it slowly faded from her purple eyes, but along with it was her smile and her other emotions. What was left of her once cheerful sister was nothing but an empty husk of her former self, gone was her joyful laugh and tender eyes, what remained was a face and heart deprived of happiness._

_Suffice to say, Hornet lost not one but two sisters on that fateful day._

_She hated herself for that._

_She was the lesser one of the Yorktowns, compared to her sisters, her achievement barely a thing. She was not like Yorktown who always made her own odds, she wasn't like the steadfast Enterprise who would always manage to prevail even in the most impossible of battle. But what she hated the most was the fact her sisters never looked at her that way because for them Hornet was a sister they would always love no matter what._

_"We carry our own burdens, but we should never make a burden for ourselves. We all knew what befallen me might happen to one of us one day, I'm just glad it's neither on of you two" Yorktown once said exactly one day after the incident, her wound was still fresh back then but her smile never wavered._

_"I'm glad you are safe, I don't know what would happen if you were ambushed too" Enterprise told her as she hold her in a tight embrace. It was the last time Hornet saw Enterprise cried, the last tear she shed was meant for her._

_A drop of cold water to her foot snapped Hornet out of her thought, she lifted the bag she was holding up and grimaced when she noticed the accumulating droplets under it._

_It seemed she was running out of time._

_She hung her head low, trying to dispel the grief and sadness building in her chest. She always found herself in such condition whenever she visited her sister after a long period of absence, it should be an old issue by now and yet it always came back at such moment._

_The first few time it happened, someone would come and ask her if she alright but after some more times they would just leave her alone because she would tell them she was fine. There was some footsteps on the end of the hallway but they would suddenly stop when the person rounded the corner before retreating back. It was probably because everyone had understood that what she needed the most at the moment was some alone time._

_She liked the staff and the patients on this block for that reason._

_Hornet sighed, silently resolving herself as her hand moved to open the door before her. It wouldn't put her anywhere if she stayed wondering the meaningless, what had transpired couldn't be undone and all that left was to live in the present with all the outcomes, for better or worse._

_"Yo! Big sister Yorktown! It's been a while don'cha think?" The blonde said with a big grin the moment she came through the door, but her eyes were everywhere except to the person sitting on the single bed in the room. "Man, I'm telling you, things are getting wild in Pacific, Command even ordered a new base to be built even though we already have Pearl there. I mean who needs two bases to begin with, right? People wouldn't be happy if they knew"_

_It was at that time that Hornet steeled herself and threw her gaze to Yorktown, and in an instant her grin wavered before it vanished completely the moment their eyes met._

_Her older sister sat there besides the large window overlooking the outside world, her ever so exist gentle gaze and warm smile in full display to Hornet as she paced around the room trying to evade looking at her directly. When a gentle breeze blew through the window, it caressed the curtains decorating it along with the silver locks that were Yorktown's hair. It was one of those moments where Hornet realized she barely resembled Yorktown while her sister Enterprise was pretty much a spitting image of her.__It made her feel distant to those two._

_Hornet bit her lips, trying to banish the myriad of emotions swirling inside her chest. She knew of this fact for a long time now, it was just obvious when she looked at her hair and her sisters', the stark difference in their tastes and their personality didn't match each other in various ways. There was only person who had once told her it was not a bad thing, someone who wasn't her sisters, someone she met on a very unfortunate event decades prior._

_**"So what if you're different? you are you and you have your own traits not even your sisters have. It's normal amongst siblings and to be honest it's what make you unique"** He once said during their meet-up in a bar. **"It doesn't matter whether you are similiar or not with each other, what's matter is that you love each other. That's all is enough at least for me..."**_

_Anyone else around her would ask the same questions Hornet herself didn't know the answers again and again; why she didn't look like her sisters, but that person answered it for her instead._

_"Welcome back, my cute little sister"_

_**What's**** matter is that you love each other.**_

_Hornet all but launched herself to Yorktown's open arm, enveloping her sister into a tight hug, the bag of ice cream she carried sat on Yorktown's lap as the silver haired Aircraft Carrier stroke her twintails hair affectionately._

_"I'm back"_

_Hornet was practically clinging to her sister as she began to cry._

* * *

A crack of thunder illuminated the sea for a brief second, revealing a single Aircraft Carrier sailing close near a giant otherworldly construct protruding from the sea surface. The carrier swayed along the building up waves, metal deck groaned as a flight of Dauntlesses took off to the sky, quickly climbing high above the dark clouds and disappeared to the night sky followed with a group of Wildcats as their escorts.

The presence of the Dauntless might be not needed but one couldn't be too careful.

A thump on behind her caught Hornet's attention, she blinked the idle thought and turned around to face its source, grinning widely the moment she recognized the person stepping under the mounted light.

"Hey, need something?" She asked lightly, wrapping her cloak tighter around herself when a rather cold night wind washed over her deck.

"Nothing in particular, it's just that I notice you brooding all by yourself so I decided to check on you" Replied Prince of Wales to the Aircraft Carrier, she lifted her hands to show Hornet the thermos and cups she was holding. "Care to join me for a cup of tea?"

Hornet shrugged. "Sure, but I don't have a table nearby so let's sit somewhere else"

"I wouldn't mind the bow"

"Fine by me too" They began to move towards Hornet's bow, setting down on the edge with their feet dangling to the water surface. It didn't take long for Wales to settle down the necessity and the next thing Hornet knew she already had a steaming red colored liquid on her palm, the sweet scent tempting her for a sip. "Do you guys always carry this stuff around?" She gestured at her tea, refering to it.

Prince of Wales hummed in affirmation. "It's necessary, in a way. Our usual AO was in the North Sea where the cold can even freeze your deck and turret, we needed something to keep us warm and tea happened to be the most suitable choice"

"That... makes sense, actually"

"Had a different reason come to your mind prior?"

Hornet laughed awkwardly. "Well, I thought you Royal Navy girls have a weird fetish for tea or something..."

This time it was Prince of Wales turn to shrug. "While it's undeniable we like it, by no means we are addicted to it. We grew fond to it, rather"

"Yeah..." A pause, both Hornet and Prince of Wales silently taking a sip of their respective tea until Hornet put her's with a dry thunk. "Look, we can't keep pretending _that _is not there" She said while pointing at a certain direction.

Wales grimaced, sighing heavily. "We can try if we want" she said somehow sarcastically, an expression one would rarely see from her. "That's been said, you're getting a little too close to the ground zero for a Carrier, you know?"

Hornet was refering to the giant metal construct roughly one kilometer away from their position, the fallen space ship that was the subject of their operation. From Hornet's position, she was literally facing it with her bow directed toward its starboard side, in other word they had the front seat when they decided to sit on the bow.

Looking up close, the thing looked bigger than she previously saw even though it literally had a third of its form deep under water.

Earlier when she just crashed, Hornet was the one to arrive on station first. She witnessed her took tons of water into her hull before she stopped slipping beneath the waves, possibly after her displacement increased a Battleship worth. Had she been a Wet Navy ship she would be resting on the sea bed by now but judging from her size lifting a Battleship must be an easy task, a fact that wasn't lost on Hornet.

"I don't see what's the point in putting up distance, she's pretty much capable to blow everything to kingdom come if she wanted to" said Hornet half-jokingly, earning a scoff from Prince of Wales in return. "You didn't come just to seek a company, did you?"

The Battleship didn't answer right away, she stared at her own beverage for a long time, watching her reflection looking back at her, grim and cold gaze slowly replacing her neutral expression. "Did you know... that Siren can actually do Manifestation too?"

Hornet frowned, wondering why Wales suddenly asked her such question. "I read it somewhere that they could. They abandoned the practice now with no apparent reason of why though"

"That's what the public know" began the Royal Navy Battleship, downing her tea in one go and directing her attention to Hornet. "The reason why they abandoned the practice is to make themselves appear more _human, _so it's difficult to see them as anything but aliens"

"But why would they went such a length?"

"Psychological warfare and an effective one at that, they exploit mankind's desire to protect living being to destroy them. You know, there was an incident occuring roughly a few months after the beginning of Siren War, a naval base was destroyed because the child they found drifting out in sea was a Siren, at that time we wouldn't know the difference between human and Siren unless from thorough examination. That was the first time humanity encountered humanoid Siren"

"A few months... that was before the first KANSEN emerged" Hornet mumbled, eyes wide in realization. The first ship-girl emerged around a year after the start of the war, before it humankind had been fighting a losing battle against the Siren because of the unbounded tactic they utilized, resulting in many countries succumbing to destruction.

The history was completely overwritten, almost no ship survived the preliminary Siren War since it's an unprecedented factor to the world. Many sailors died in the battle far fiercer than even the Old War, countries exhausted from the said war were forced to fight again lest they wanted to be wiped from the map. In the end, complete reform was made in the world, those who had power stood strong, those who were weaker must form a pact to stay still and prevail the raging current. Governments throwing everything they had to keep everything running and civilians were taught to produce than consume more thanks to the breakdown of international trade networks.

"Indeed it was, people still call those time as mankind's darkest hours even to this day"

_That would be an understatement._ Hornet thought to herself, not really had the courage to speak it out loud to Prince of Wales. It was still a sore subject for some people even to this day, a wound that time would gradually heal but not yet.

She decided to keep the conversation neutral.

"So why did you bring the subject up again?"

"Because that ship over there shows an essence of Siren Manifestation!"

Another thunder flashed high in the sky, coming from the accumulating dark cloud, it briefly shone over the area, this time revealing a wide eyed Hornet staring at Prince of Wales with shocked gaze full of disbelief in her green eyes.

"Wh-what?!"

The blonde Battleship stood up, her half empty cup of tea clattered on her side, its red-ish content spilling all over the flight deck. A sense of turmoil exploded inside her chest and she began to pace back and forth while gritting her teeth. "Remember the purple light? Siren's Manifestation had something in common and it was that! We don't emit purple light because our main element is blue, the thoughts and wishes of mankind to conquer the sea which are what consisted our souls. And now the very same ship's human form is currently in our base along with the defenseless Commander"

"That's not necessarily the proof needed to make such decision" Hornet interjected, mirroring Prince of Wales's earlier action and got up to face her.

Her pacing came to a stop the moment Hornet stood in front of her, Hornet's face contorted into a disapproving scowl Wales didn't even try to ignore. "We don't know what she is, an unknown factor in this war, something otherworldly" She declared harshly, each worth punctuated with a step towards Hornet until they're merely a few inches apart. The Aircraft Carrier kept her defiance look straight to Wales until the Battleship jabbed a finger seaward at where the spaceship was on. "That thing possesses unknown dangers not just to us but people in this world too"

Hornet growled. "That _thing _is now a Kansen just like us, she needs to eat and rest just like you and me and she also has her purposes, which I believe, even bigger than any of ours so please stop objectifying her! Save it for the Siren if you really desire to use the term!" The last part of her sentence came out in a yell, leaving Hornet breathing heavily, she only noticed when Wales didn't reply to her sudden outburst, rendered speechless by her actions. With a deep sigh, Hornet forced herself to calm down and face Enterprise steel form. "Did you see the damage she suffered? There's a giant hole on her starboard side so big it can fit a Battleship like you. What do you think she fought to give that extent of a damage? Not even Yamato sisters with their high caliber guns can deal so much, for all I know she probably had her own war back home"

"We don't know that, that's something we need to verify"

"So is her status as suspected Siren"

A pause, Prince of Wales took a step to stand beside Hornet. "Why do you defend her so vigorously?"

Hornet smiled warmly as yet another breeze blew her cloak sideways. She looked up, watching a swirl of dark cloud moving towards her and the base, already obscuring the silver moon from reaching the ground with its ray. However, before she could give her answer to Wales, a loud sizzling sound suddenly filled the air followed with a steadily increased humming, slowly drowning the silent sea in a series of mechanical sounds.

Prince of Wales gasped as the slumbering ship suddenly lit up, power flickered to life along her previously dark metal hull illuminating the sea surrounding her with powerful floodlights. The Battleship's metal form sped up before taking a sharp starboard turn, from previously on Hornet's port side she was now directly on her fore.

With her guns pointed in a full broadside towards Enterprise.

Hornet snorted, mentally steering herself away from the now active spaceship. "Stand down, your guns wouldn't do much damage anyway" She said somehow matter of factly, bringing online one of her floodlights and point it toward the fallen vessel's bow where one of her two giant cannons was pointed at their position. "She could have killed us if she wanted to but she didn't. I've been looking at her complement of weapons from the second I saw her metal form and trust me, she's an embodiment of flying fortress neither you or me can penetrate"

It was an understatement rather than anything.

Her hull was literally adorned with weapons, there was so much guns and cannons installed it effectively made her the most heavily armed ship in the world. Hornet's flight groups managed to observed for a few seconds before Enterprise's own CAP units forced them away from their mothership, in those precious seconds she could make out a pair of cannons that stood out the most because of their sheer size. Those cannons were probably bigger than even Sakura Empire's 18 inches gun, which by itself was more than capable to burn a whole base down and considered as one of the most devastating ship based weapons ever built.

The sheer destructive power was unmatched for a mere cannon until Enterprise's arrival, at least Yamato's 460mm guns were known factors to the equation. For all they knew the ones Enterprise's sported could be firing nuke rounds.

You could never destroy a ship her size with Yamato's cannon, if a 2,5 kilometers ship exist then surely a bigger or equal ones of adversary too. Hornet just hoped they wouldn't have to test out the theory because they had no means to counter it with.

_She's being reasonable_.

Hornet thought distractedly as a droplet of water fell on her hat, she looked up as the sky began to rain its content with a roar of thunder following it.

_She's gone so much too. Even after those years humanity haven't found her peace despite her own bloody history._

The sea around the spaceship exploded, not even the heavy downpour could negate the loud sound coming from Enterprise as steam began to rise from her aft. It was clear she had enough of sleeping in the cold sea when the said sea itself began to shook the moment a second explosion occured on her belly, golden light of rocket engines slowly pushing the massive vessel heavenward while infiltrating sea water seemingly slipped out from inside her through the crevices and holes, creating massive pillars of waterfalls.

All it took was 10 seconds and the spaceship was now levitating like an immovable titan, unflinching with all her might displayed even when a thunder struck her.

_Just what kind of war did you fight?_

It was the last thing in Hornet's mind as Enterprise's main engine came to life, pushing the ship to fly by above them for a split second before moving towards their base with unrivaled speed.

* * *

_Boom!_

The flash of silver light and the tremor on the ground were the first things the Commander encountered the moment he stepped out of the Command Building when a thunder struck the shore not so far from his position, eliciting a surprised gasp from Vestal who was on his side as a second lightningstrike occured and cut the power on the whole base, leaving the island shrouded in darkness.

Somehow, in just a few minutes the weather suddenly changed despite it being clear not so long ago. What was once a calm and peaceful night turned into a beginning of a calamity with waves and thunders crashing to the world with intention of erasing it forever in a shifting wrath of heat and coldness.

Droplets of water poured down from the sky, painting the ground dark with dampness as if to wash it with its very own color, accompanied with bone-chilling sea air steadily building up a howling that rivaled even a pact of wolves.

_Boom!_

The ground shook, fiery red ball of fire rose up from the building West of the Command Center, burning even the raging heaven with its sheer might and heat. David's mouth went agape, he tried to find his word but nothing came up. Between Vestal's horrified screaming and the storm, he could barely make out anything in his mind.

_Medical Ward... That's the Medical Ward!_

A flash of thunder, a second explosion followed with a series of machinegun fire, and the sound of _something _crashing through the wall filled the air for a split second before suddenly the concrete wall before them burst to dust, a body flew through it and skidded to stop a few meters on the paved road, bloody and unmoving.

_Warspite_

Her sword, now broken and had been cleanly cut into two, still rested on her oddly bent hand, and her main guns were still hot from firing with steam oozing from the barrels. Her second turret, however, was destroyed with the same precise cut on her sword, a literally hot red scar running from its front to the back pried open the armor protection like a hot knife through butter, seemingly ignoring the fact a ship-girl's rigging was just as durable as their metal form.

The Repair Ship was the first one to move out. She jumped into action almost immediately, kneeling beside the incapacitated Warspite, her hands were a blur of rapid and professional movements as she checked on the Battleship despite the incomprehensible mumbling leaving her mouth.

David followed suit almost a second later, he barely paid attention to the rain soaking his once pristine uniform and instead the blood pooling around Warspite the rain washed down. He pulled his handgun, switched the safety off after loading the chamber and kneeled beside Vestal, his brown eyes now focused on the destroyed wall.

He had a hunch whoever or whatever injured Warspite was pretty much impervious to his gun, but it's rather comforting to know he wouldn't be bare handed.

"Speak to me, Vestal!" The Commander ordered with a yell to make sure he didn't just go through the storm but also Vestal's disarrayed mental state.

Vestal went silent almost immediately but her hands never stopped administering first aid. "Mild concussion, broken ribs and bones in various places, so far I count 3 but it may be more, shallow cut on her left arm presumably from close quarter battle going in a vertical starting from her elbow to shoulder, knife? dagger? need to stitch it later..." She trailed off as if lost in her own thoughts, David took the initiative to confirm the conditions.

"Can you move her somewhere safe?"

"I would have had her on the Medical Ward but my office is currently on fire, Commander" Vestal replied with a hint of bitterness on her tone. "Just what is going on?"

"I wish I had the answer for that" David muttered more to himself than as a reply, he noticed Nevada running to them with Arizona following not so far, they're amongst few who stayed on base as guards. "I'm going to see what's happening, tell Helena to recall all ships back to base, mark it as priority message"

Both Battleships finally arrived, Nevada went to help Vestal while Arizona stopped right before the Commander, her eyes filled with concern looking him up and down searching for any possible injury. "Are you okay, Commander?"

"I'm fine, the explosion happened pretty far actually" David replied, giving Arizona a reassuring nod, it was at that moment did he notice the rigging connected on her. "You're in battle readiness?"

She straightened up, her guns traversing from stand by position to full salvo configuration. There was a series of small _clicks_on each guns that could only mean one thing; the shells had been fed on to the barrels and ready to be fired anytime. "Aye, sir"

"Good, follow me, we're going to find out" David said to her before turning his attention to Nevada, giving the other Battleship a quick instruction. "Get Warspite to my office, there should be some first aid kit under my desk then tell every available personel to guard the Command Center"

The blonde gave him a thumb up, lifting Warspite up from the ground and quickly making her way to the aforementioned building while Vestal stayed close to do her job. David watched them go before nodding at Arizona who had patiently been waiting for him.

"Let's go"

The ground shook once again, making the destroyed wall to crumble even more. Black iron bar running horizontally which was once functioned as reinforcing medium was now nothing but useless piece of metal, sticking out with the end pretty much bent outward exactly on the destroyed section. David carefully navigated through the gap in the wall, keeping his sidearm forward at where the sound of battle was coming from.

The hole, or rather, holes were all connected in one straight line, at least through 4 rooms all the way out of the building. It started from where the spaceship was being treated on but there was also another hole on the opposite side of the room David barely make out since the whole room was literally on fire.

It didn't take him long to connect the dots.

"Son of a-"

"Commander!" Arizona called out to him, she was standing on the end of the hallway leading outside. "I detected Belfast out in the courtyard! She is fighting something!"

David _sprinted_ for the double doors.

* * *

"How long are you planning to hide? You have nowhere to go"

The Light Cruiser shouted into the darkness surrounding her, watching the bushes and trees swayed back and forth from the bone chilling wind carried by the storm with resolved glare. The cold didn't bother her on the slightest since she had much experience operating in the merciless Atlantic Ocean, such simple disturbance didn't affect her at all and it took nothing but little effort to ignore it.

Belfast's 6 inch guns were on alert, aimed forward while her secondary guns created a kill zone around her that prevented any sort of threat to come closer. It was usually enough to keep most enemy away but this time, she was sure they were not enough, never were.

Warspite, a Battleship, failed to subdue her opponent. She was one of the best ship ever exist yet she was defeated in less than 3 minutes by a wounded and _rigging-less _ship with nothing but a mere knife, a feat never heard before even from a Siren. Belfast was there when that happen, she still could not believe it even to this very second. She saw Warspite fired her main guns, she saw the Battleship exchanged melee attacks with her target using her infamous great sword, she also saw the very same sword got cut to two by a knife not even longer than its half and her turret being disabled with a single strike still with the said knife.

She also saw Warspite getting kicked away while in her full equipments through walls like a weightless rag doll, bare handed by her opponent.

And right now, that opponent had become Belfast's opponent.

She wasn't sure how she would do it but she would try to neutralize the threat regardless how, maybe she should start by buying time for the others to help.

Something shone above her, driving Belfast's reflex into an overdrive. She looked up on the split second, barely recognizing the white blue-ish light the object was emanating due to the heavy rain, still it was enough for her to know what it was.

She didn't bother trying to deflect it as it plunged right at her from the sky, instead the Light Cruiser jumped away from its trejactory, fully aware it was the very same knife that cut through Warspite's turret armor like a hot knife through butter, which in this case the first half was literal because the knife was _melting_ hot.

The knife plummeted right to the ground tip first, embedding itself deep on the cemented surface, faint smoke slowly rising from it as it gradually cooling down, revealing its original jet black color. The attack was proven as nothing but distraction when a shadow suddenly jumped from behind a tree relative where the knife came from, heading straight for the now unprepared Belfast.

"You-!"

Whatever she was about to say never got finished when a fist suddenly hit her right on the gut, knocking the air out of her lungs. The blow was abnormally strong for a ship without a rigging and it actually pushed her off of her feet down to the ground where she then laid on her back, wheezing and coughing.

The figure picked the knife from where it was, holding it in a reverse grip, almost instantly it lit up again with the same light it had.

A lightning roared in the heaven, its light illuminating the figure holding the vicious looking knife for a brief moment. Still, it was enough for Belfast to pick up many details of her opponent and it didn't help her relieve the sinking feeling on her stomach that wasn't due to the punch.

Many things unfazed her, but at this very moment Belfast actually felt dreadful.

Enterprise stood there, not the similiar girl Belfast was tasked on to monitor but an unknown spaceship that had just recently been ressurected from death. She was dressed in heavy gear, olive colored metal plating covering her torso and shoulders giving little to no openings for an attack most in which functioned as compartments or some sort. On her back, a stock of a gun protruded upward, there was also a handgun glued on her right thigh and what seemed to be the scabbard for her knife on her left arm, empty since its content was in use.

Belfast vaguely wondered why she didn't use any weapon other than her knife to fight her and Warspite earlier until she realized all it took was the knife to incapacitated both of them.

"What... Are you...?" Said the maid through a wheezing breath, watching Enterprise slowly walking towards her. The lack of expression she had unnerved her and the steady way she held her knife suggested she was in full intention to kill her.

The rain made it hard to comprehend Enterprise's reply and the fact it came out in nothing but a whisper made it more difficult, still, Belfast was pretty accustomed to in reading lips movement so she was certain she understood it pretty well.

"I don't know..."

Enterprise squatted low, her knees pressing against Belfast's arms completely rendering her helpless. She couldn't do anything except to watch as Enterprise slowly brought the knife close to her neck, the heat prickling Belfast's chin.

"There's no turning back from this" Belfast started, her voice uncharacteristically steady despite the clear threat before her. "You have no allies in this world"

"And you just committed an aggression against the UNSC"

Belfast was quiet for a moment. "That was a miscalculation in our part, we thought we could subdue you but it was proven the strength difference is much more higher than expected"

"I heard your Commander is a very reasonable man, does he know about this?"

"I don't" A voice piped in, almost immediately Enterprise had the handgun on her thigh drawn at its source, safety off.

The Commander stood a few meters from their position, his own handgun pointed at Enterprise while Arizona had her main battery zeroed in to her, eyes brimming with a myriad of emotions.

Belfast took the sudden distraction as a chance to free herself, she quickly traversed one of her guns to the girl looming over her with an intention to incapacitate her. Turned out, it was a bad decision when Enterprise suddenly drove her knife to the turret, cutting through the middle most barrel all the way to the back.

"Try me once again and you'll find your head rolling away from your body" She said venomously, effortlessly pulling the knife from the now destroyed turret before holding it closer to Belfast's neck than before.

The Light Cruiser smirked. "I've cheated death once"

"Yes but I'm not a mine waiting for my prey, this time you'll die for sure"

Belfast was about to retort but the Commander cut her off. "That's enough, nobody is going to die tonight. Drop your weapons and slowly get away from Belfast, we've got you surrounded"

True enough, a lot of ship-girls were already surrounding the area, most of which were a part of base staff and guards like Helena. The blue haired girl seemed confused as she stood amongst her friends, fully equipped in full rigging.

There was also a glimpse of a silver hair somehwere behind the Commander, a now familiar head. The Aircraft Carrier Enterprise in a night attire.

Didn't see that coming.

She seemed conflicted judging from the way she kept looking at her and the Commander, she wanted to help but she couldn't summon her rigging since her steel form was under emergency repair on the dry dock and with the way it was she's fully aware she was nothing but a hindrance.

_Still..._

"What the hell are you doing?!" She shouted to her, tone brimming with anger and disbelief. "Attacking Belfast and destroying base properties like this?! I thought you said you prefer peaceful approach!"

"Well it has changed when that blonde midget and this woman over here decided that pointing a damn sword at my throat is a good thing to do when talking with me" The Heavy Carrier replied heatedly. "This is a legitimate self defense I am dictated to uphold against threats directed to me"

"Wh-what?!"

"I was not the first one to pull the trigger"

The world fell silent, nobody's daring enough to move a single muscle. The only sounds around them were the rain and constant thunders but even so they were pale in comparison with the thick tense atmosphere permeating in the air.

"Stand down" The Commander ordered before lowering his weapon, there were a lot of hesitations but many Ship-girls quickly complied. "You want answers? I'll give you answers in exchange for questions, come with me and we will have a long nice chat"

"Sir! You're not seriously thinking to have her audience, right?!"

"All of this was not necessary yet it occured because of errors in our part so cease any hostile actions immediately. As the highest Commanding Officer, I revoke whatever orders given to you previously, Bel. Go to Vestal and get yourself checked, do not perform any superficial activity until I give you an all clear"

_You're confined._

"... Aye, sir"

David didn't wait for Enterprise's response, he silently left the area heading back to his office. He only stopped once he was within arm length to Arizona to communicate with her.

"Tell Prince of Wales to RTB ASAP and find me on my office along with Hornet and the other core members"

"What about the patrol, sir? it'll greatly reduce the manpower"

"There is no need for that anymore, Arizona" Helena cut in with wavering tone. "Did you notice?"

The Battleship made a puzzled look "Notice what?"

"... the rain, it's not as intense and the major magnetic interference in the area. Something is jamming our signal and electronics" She explained it to the Battleship but it caught all of the Ship-girls' attention.

"Where is the source?" Davide queried, beginning to worry that Siren was moving again to attack the base. At such time everything was on their advantage with the base currently in disarray and most personel out conducting patrol.

Her answer, however, was not comforting in a lot of ways.

Helena raised her hand, pointing straight up to the sky with her index finger. "Here, or rather up there"

"What?"

The world exploded in a blinding white light, forcing all present to close their eyes when the light replaced the darkness once dominating the base. David blinked rapidly to adjust his vision, and slowly but surely he could make out the giant construct looming above his base, the very same construct that was the source of the light.

"You're wrong" said the Heavy Carrier Enterprise, she was now standing above Belfast, pretty much looming over the Light Cruiser with her sheer height, not unlike how her metal form loomed over the base. "I have my ways out, some in which won't do well to you nor me"

* * *

"What a mess" Hornet muttered to herself, following a certain blonde haired Battleship as she hastily made her way through the docks. "Hey, slow down a bit will you? I don't want you kissing the ground good night because you slip up on something"

"That is the least of our priorities"

"Oh now we have priorities and the _least"_ She replied somehow heatedly, jogging to catch Prince of Wales up. "What the hell were you thinking when you give them that order-no, what the hell were you _hoping?_ You did realize it's like the number one on no no list, right?"

"... I'm aware"

Hornet silently cursed, glaring at Prince of Wales' back as she slowly let the Royal Navy girl being on the lead once again, she couldn't fathom what was going on inside her head at the moment because it really was out of her character. "What the hell were you thinking... things could have turned for the worst for us and the Commander" Hornet mumbled with hollow tone that spoke a myriad of emotions, she didn't want _something _to befall the Commander or anyone else in general if she could help it.

Prince of Wales understood it, she came to a sudden stop in front of Hornet, palms tightly wrapped into a fist. "Miss Hornet, would you be so kind and meet the Commander first? I have matters to attend at my end by myself and will follow in a moment"

The Aircraft Carrier scoffed, hard enough for Wales to hear it, before stomping past the Battleship with a deep scowl on her face. She didn't bother to look back, not on the slightest, and instead marched to the Commander's office.

There were a lot of Ship-girls occupying the hallways, mostly the nimble Destroyers, but as she got closer to her destination the groups started to vary with some Cruisers and Battleships mixing inside the formations, all of them lost in their own worlds but one topic stayed the same in their conversations.

_"Did you hear? they said the culprit is inside with the Commander"_

_"You mean the one responsible for destroying the Medical Ward?"_

_"Yeah, I also heard that Warspite is injured so bad Vestal had to perform emergency treatment on her. There's a pool of blood near the Commander's desk where she was nursed before they transport her away somewhere"_

_"That's so horrible, why would Commander Allenforth let her inside? and with him nonetheless..."_

_"I know, right? she even brought her weapons inside!"_

"Yo! Hornet! What's with the terrifying face?" Columbia called out to her with her usual easy going tone, but this time it felt a little less natural.

Hornet stopped and looked at the direction where Columbia was on, pretty much glaring at the 3 Cleveland sisters making up the group. She saw Columbia's smile faltered and Denver flinched because of her action while Montpelier did nothing but glare back.

Hornet sighed tiredly, rubbing her temple to ease up the tension on her facial muscles. "Where's Cleve?"

"Inside, been there for like 10 minutes with the Commander and your sister, Queen Elizabeth is there too along with Illustrious"

"Why didn't you guys come in?"

"They prohibited any entry, seems like some serious stuff is happening they can't let it go around the base" The smaller blonde explained, crossing her arms in front of her chest. "Y'know I couldn't care less and honestly I'd rather have my nose somewhere not confidential"

"Cleveland said she's going to fill us in later anyway so it's not like you won't get involved" Denver cut in somewhat cheekily, mirroring Columbia's action by crossing her arms. "You just too lazy to get into whatever conversation they are having"

"Well, crap, don't blame me, talks aren't my forte, that's why Cleve is the big sist"

"As painful as it was to admit, you're the second older Cleveland-class so therefore you are technically our big sister too"

"Why you little-!"

Both Columbia and Denver started to throw arguments at each other, for outsiders it might seem like the sisters were in a bad term but for someone who had known the Clevelands for a long time like Hornet, they would easily understand it's just another day with them.

_Nothing fights as well as they argue like the Clevelands._

"I'm worried" Montpelier suddenly spoke on her side, almost startling Hornet with her not so sudden appearance. Amongst the sisters, the most odd one was this one girl speaking to her, she was silent most of the time, a mismatch on a bunch of obnoxious misfits. Unlike her sisters, Montpelier was the type who'd rather observe and stay on the sideline as things unfolded and would only join in when she was interested or ordered by Cleveland herself.

She also barely initated a conversation with people unless she trusted them, especially when it came to her feelings.

"About what?"

"Big sister"

_Right, should have seen that coming._

In this world, there was only one thing Montpelier truly liked and interested on and it was Cleveland. For her, her sister was the only person worth giving attention to other than the Commander who took around 5 years to gain such regard from her, that itself was probably the greatest achievement one could possibly gain.

"She's going to be fine, I'll be there too in a second and I promise you I will keep an eye on her"

"No... You can't, not against _her_"

"... how's Cleveland holding up?"

Before Montpelier could answer however, the double wooden doors separating the hallway and the Commander office suddenly creaked open, a familiar face peeking through its sill.

"You're back" the person said more to a statement than question, addressing Hornet who grimaced in return. "Get in quickly, what were you doing in outside"

"I'm waiting for Wales, she said she has something to do"

The person, which was none other than Hornet's older sister Enterprise, frowned at her answer. "Let her be, we have an urgent matter we need to discuss"

"Is everything alright now?" Denver once again cut in, ignoring Columbia who was in the middle of throwing tantrums.

"I wish I could give you the answer for that" Enterprise replied with a hint of regret in her tone before addressing her sister once again. "Get in"

"Alright"

With a small wave of her hand, Hornet left the three sisters be as she made her way inside the office, fully aware with the stares she received from other Ship-girls around her.

The doors clicked shut the moment she fully entered, courtesy of Enterprise who then wordlessly walked past by her without sparing her even a glance. The atmosphere inside was more intense than what Hornet imagined and it made her nervous with the silence and cold air dominating the room thanks to the broken windows they barely kept closed.

She tipped her hat low to shield her face, feeling her throat tightened due to the pressure accumulating around her. Eventually, Enterprise once again called for her when she noticed Hornet had been standing idly like a lost person for the whole time.

"Hornet, take a seat" The silver haired girl ordered, gesturing at the empty space on the sofa beside her.

"Right" Hornet muttered in return before she reluctantly maneuvered around the set of chairs, passing by a lot of faces she's familiar with and one she had begun to get accustomed to.

The Heavy Carrier Enterprise.

She was sitting alone across the Commander who had been oddly silent the whole time, her heavy gear pressing against the soft material creating a rather large disproportion on her end. A rather big gun sat near her left leg, resting against the sofa with its barrel pointed upward, not too close to be translated as a hostile intention but still within range should something happen. The gun... Hornet never seen a gun like that before, the design was bullpup judging from the way its magazine and trigger were positioned, but it's also looked so bulky and heavy with all the metal covering it, seemed like something you could use to beat someone to death and it would still be operational for the rest of its service.

The Commander meanwhile had both Illustrious and Queen Elizabeth flanking his sides, the former had a rather neutral expression while the latter didn't seem was even trying to hide her disdain as she glared at the woman in front of her.

The woman in question, however, merely ignored the venomous look pointed at her and instead focused more at the Commander with unreadable face etched on her, heck she barely glanced around the room.

A hand landed on Hornet's shoulder, startling her out of her reverie. She pretty much jumped in surprise before realizing whose hand it was.

"Coffee?" Enterprise offered, lifting a steaming cup of black liquid to her direction.

The action was so sudden Hornet needed a couple of seconds to process her answer. "A-ah... Yes, thank you" she said while mustering the best smile she could at the moment. It didn't take long for the blonde to melt in its comforting warm, and she was eternally grateful of her sister for offering such blessing.

"Take off your hat, it's drenched, you might get a headache if you keep it on"

"Okay" Hornet breathed out, fully aware how unusual her sister was acting around her but not really having the courage to bring it up. Enterprise rarely showed a sign of affection unless to Yorktown but even so she did it scarcely most of the times, so to have her practically hogging Hornet out was troubling.

"Here, a towel to dry your hair with"

"Thank you"

And just like that, everything fell silent once again, Queen Elizabeth was still glaring at the person across her with the same pointed look she had earlier but it somehow had lost its intensity a little bit, Illustrious was openly glancing around the room seemingly looking for something while in actuality she was just bored, or nervous, Hornet really couldn't tell.

She untied her hair bands, letting her ponytails to drop down, before patting and rubbing the white towel to her damp hair. Hornet didn't notice it at first but both Enterprises were suddenly had their eyes on her, maroon and purple respectively pointing at her with each having a subtle and different hint of emotions.

"What?" The blonde Carrier asked somewhat awkwardly when they kept on looking at her, swiveling between her sister and the spaceship.

"You both sure do look alike" stated the latter, gesturing between the Yorktowns with her head slightly. "If only your hair was silver you'd be indistinguishable"

Hornet was at loss for word all she could do was to stare back and gape like a fish out of water while her sister had this half smile half grimace expression Hornet didn't know people capable of making.

Before someone could reply on that, the doors suddenly creaked open, drawing their attention to the person standing near it.

"You request my presence, Commander?" Prince of Wales asked stiffly, it's sounded like a rhetorical question than anything. Instantly, the improved mood dropped to its previous state and the gloomy and pressing atmosphere returned in its full power.

"Yes, please sit down"

The Battleship glanced around, looking at the assembled people with keen eyes swiftly, and only stopped at one particular person.

Their eyes met, Prince of Wales averted her gaze away.

She cleared her throat and wordlessly made her way to the only available seat, the only sound she made was the rustling from the brown folders she carried with her. There was also an audio player in her person which she then placed onto the table.

"Commander, I-"

"I want you to explain what's the meaning of your aggressive actions to UNSC Enterprise" David cut in, bringing up a piece of paper. "One building is completely destroyed, some external destructions are also notable mainly the courtyards, and numerous base properties are also destroyed across the island. One Ship-girl is suffering a major injury and rigging damage while another one is almost killed in action, initial estimation the former will require at least one month worth of repair and healing to be fit for combat again. All of it was because of your reckless orders to gather infomations by any means necessary from the subjected Enterprise, in other word, an unauthorized interrogation"

"How is Lady Warspite?"

"Alive but not eager"

"That's a good news..."

The Commander glared at Wales, invoking a squirm from her. "Queen Elizabeth did not know about this order at all and she's your de facto leader, I do not care of your internal affairs and I'm more than willing to tolerate your little game of royal but when it comes to the people under my responsibility then I _need_ to know"

"Her Highness is not one to blame, please don't bother her with this matter, it was all my fault" The Battleship confessed with a tone filled with resignation, she then began to unpack the brown folders she carried. "This is the most guarded secret in Royal Navy even Her Highness Queen Elizabeth does not know exist, usually a foreigner is not allowed to get on such knowledge with any leaks will be dealed swiftly by the military. However I, being one of those who was deeply involved by the incident, got a full authority to share it with whoever I deemed necessary"

She handed those in the room one folder each, even the Heavy Carrier Enterprise beside her. Neither of them bat an eye to each other with Prince of Wales intentionally keeping her gaze down all the time while Enterprise had her eyes set on the folder before her as if staring at death itself.

"Incident FIERCE...?" Hornet mumbled as she read the title on the cover, there was a big red stamp of Top Secret on top of it she barely ignored. "What's that?"

"Foreign Inexplicable Emergency Radio Communication Emissions" she explained. "Please refer to its content"

There was a slight hesitation coming from everyone except the Commander and both Enterprises who almost instantly tore the seal off of the documents the moment they got all clear, their actions inspired Hornet to do the same and a second later she had the first page displayed before her.

The room fell silent.

_Logs of Incident FIERCE_.

_-September 26th 1967, Deep Space Surveillance Facility **'****Echelon**'-_

**_Log 1:_**

_Incident recorded as first encounter coming from Mars orbit, an unknown radio transmission is received by Echelon's main communication relay dishes at 14:35 hours lasting for approximately 5 minutes in a form of gurgled statics, telescope tower 3 nestled south west of the facility moved to search the source but no contact can be established. Facility's director requests an orbital surveillance satellite assistant, approval pending from the government._

_**Addendum 1: **Request approved, still no sign of the signal's source, the case is flagged as a mere space noise despite Dr. Whitecomb's insistence and request for further investigation._

**_Log 2:_**

_Second contact occured roughly 5 hours after the first contact at 19:34 local time, reports coming from other facilities across the country indicate a massive surge in signal strength but not enough to clean the statics, the source is predicted to be much closer to Earth. By this time, the government has speculated the contact is another Siren's ploy._

**_Addendum 1: _**_The Kingdom has dictated a nation-wide network restriction to prevent civilian population from receiving the transmission unintentionally by signal jamming, the frequency is extremely high to even a mere radio to catch it._

_**Addendum 2: **Dr. Herriman theorizes the white noise is not a white noise but the transmission itself and because of the insufficient receptor media the system can not translate it as such, this is proven by the sporadic pattern he discovers while analyzing the transmission._

_**Addendum 3: **The transmission is sent with 2 channels, one is a Hyper Frequency signal and the second is a form of signal never seen before__, request for specialized equipments has been approved and is currently waiting for application._

_-September 28th 1967-_

**_Log 3:_**

_The signal is successfully comprehended and an attempt to translate it results in a decent outcome, the following recording is the most we can translate by far._

All eyes turned to Prince of Wales immediately, the Battleship, however, simply played the recording from the audio player she carried.

_"...is... UNSC... heavy ..c..r...er E...re...s, we... re... ffering... Slip...ace ...rive mal...unction and..."_

The rest was lost in a garbled static until a click signalled the end of the recording. Nobody uttered a word as they stared at Prince of Wales who returned the gesture with hollow gaze.

"It's... a UNSC ship" Hornet mumbled in shock, she directed her attention towards a certain someone. "Was that you?"

"No" replied the spaceship resolutely. "From what I can gather, whoever she was, she had a problem with her Slipspace Drive"

"Slipspace Drive?" David asked, shifting on his seat.

"It's a superluminal transfer engine we utilize to travel a long distance in a short amount of time, an FTL device basically"

"Wait, are you saying your maximum speed is that of light speed?" The Commander once again asked, this time in a tone filled with surprise, before Enterprise could answer however, Hornet suddenly butt in.

"Man, I know you have some big engines but I didn't know it was _that _fast"

"Well no I can't go light speed fast in real space, that's why we need Slipspace Drive, it works by ripping the 11th dimension open"

Illustrious raised her hand up, the display brought a lot of odd stares. "Um... what does that mean?"

"They force a controlled blackhole to manifest and transit through it" Wales muttered, eliciting a small gasp from her Royal Navy fellows.

"What make you so sure it wasn't you? You were suddenly appeared afterall and there was no other way for you to just pop up like that"

Enterprise paused at Hornet's question. There was no accusation in her tone neither there was any hint of suspicion, it just a pure question of curiosity. "That is true in a degree, but there is one flaw"

Her counterpart raised her eyebrows questioningly. "And that is?"

"I blew myself up to smithereens, even if my people were to search at my pieces they would barely find anything worthy. I was _obliterated"_

A cold chill ran down Hornet's spine at the Heavy Carrier's words, everyone minus the Carrier in question must have felt the same judging from the way they shifted uncomfortably. It was not just because of the way she died, but also the way she talked about her own death that disturbed them.

Clipped tone void of any emotion, not unlike when people were talking about business.

"What kind of enemy did you fight for a ship as mighty as yourself to resort into such drastic measure?"

"One that has no regard about anything else other than their goals, even if it means burning hundred of planets into glass" She replied, this time a hint of anger was present in her tone and it didn't go unnoticed. "Nevertheless, I'm certain it wasn't me since I did not even have the time to flag a distress beacon"

"Then who it was?"

The Heavy Carrier did not reply, instead she skipped through the report until something caught her attention. Something that even made her jaw dropped.

"CB-255... This..."

"That's what we found on the supposed crash site" Prince of Wales cut in as she watched the person beside her went through a shock.

_-October 3rd 1967-_

**_Log 8:_**

_A construct of unknown origin has suddenly entered Earth's geosynchronous orbit and is on collision course with the planet, unaware governments around the world have been notified of the imminent fall out. Contingency plans have also been created in case of catastrophic event._

_The following picture shows the construct to have silver color, blocky appearance but smooth surface, with esitmated length 1,5 kilometers. Various symbols are seen on the surface but mostly suffered heavy deformity. An extensive amount of damage on the construct is also visible with many destroyed sections and structures present._

_Object's trejactory is yet to be calculated since it tends to change course erratically._

_-October 4th 1967, aboard the HMS Prince of Wales-_

**_Log 9:_**

_"It's going to crash somewhere in the middle of Atlantic Ocean, that's a blessing for the most part but it will be difficult to secure it considering the threat level there. I've requested help from Eagle Union __and they agree to spare a couple of ships from Task Force 39"_

_-Rear Admiral Grand_

_**Addendum 1: **The ships participating in the operation are as follow; Royal Navy Home Fleet (HMS Duke of York, HMS Victorious, HMS Belfast, HMS Exeter, HMS Rodney, HMS Nelson, HMS Indomitable with HMS Prince of Wales as flagship) and Union Task Force 39 elements ( USS Sims, USS Independence, USS Washington, USS North Carolina, USS Wasp, USS Essex, USS Intrepid, USS Bunker Hill, USS Missouri with USS Yorktown as flagship). The Joint Task Force is later renamed as Battlegroup Remedy and HMS Prince of Wales acted as the command vessel._

_**Addendum 2: **The Iron Blood dispatches an element of ships of their own, the units are derived from Iron Blood High Sea Fleet consisting of as follow; KMS Bismarck, KMS Gneisenau, KMS Prinz Eugen, KMS Z39, KMS Z23 with KMS Friedrich Der Grosse as the flagship. U-boat Division 3 is also dispatched, consisting of 5 submarine vessels. The combined group then later randezveous with Battlegroup Remedy the following day._

_**Addendum 3: **All participating ships and individuals are all vowed to keep secrecy of the operation due to its sensitive nature, they are not allowed to converse the subject in question with anyone else unless a clearance is given_ _by an authorized individual or when the subject is extremely necessary to mention._

"So my sister knew about this..." muttered the Aircraft Carrier Enterprise when she finished reading the report.

"Lady Yorktown is one of those high ranking individuals but the first order outrules the second one, she simply does not get the opportunity to tell you and I'm certain she would do the same as I did"

Hornet scowled. "Big sister Yorktown would not take such extreme measure" She growled, still having a little bit of disdain at Prince of Wales' actions. "What she would do is actually sit everyone together and talk"

"Regardless..." The Commander cut in before Hornet could say anything more, it was obvious she was very close from lashing at Prince of Wales. She didn't appreciate it when someone talked about her sister that way it seemed. "This is not enough reason to commit such aggressive actions"

"That I agree, Commander. However there was an... occurance when the ship crashed"

"That is?"

Instead of answering directly, the Battleship raised the documents in her hands. "Log 10. Due to the condition of the calculated crash site, a continuous observation is impossible and a period of blindness exists for approximately 3 hours, moreover, with the construct's tendency to drastically changing speed and trejactory it is impossible to calculate the exact crash site, a question still remains about its origin and why it transmitts communication data in human language but no successful contact has been established despite efforts, maybe if a successful contact was made we probably could direct it somewhere more prime"

**_Log 11: _**

_Communique between Rear Admiral Grand and the Atlantic Warfare and Rescue Strategic Command (AWARE STRACOM) recorded in October 6th 1967._

_Admiral Grand: "Command, we have been conducting CSAR operations for a while now but no sight of the target, I repeat no sight so far, over"_

_STRACOM: "Repeat, Admiral Grand, are you sure you don't miss it? Over"_

_Admiral Grand: "No way in hell I'll miss something as big, I should have asked are we on the correct spot to begin with, over"_

_STRACOM: "The estimated crash site has not changed, Admiral, there must be something down there, over"_

_Admiral Grand: "Well, that thing has been flying around like a confused bird, this spot is approximately around 265 nautical miles from the original one and I'm afraid we missed the actual spot, over"_

_STRACOM: "That is the correct spot, Admiral. However, we hereby authorized you to expand your search area by 10 miles considering the situation, over"_

_Admiral Grand: "Yeah this mist doesn't make life easier too, I'll have the search area expanded then, over"_

_STRACOM: "Positive copy, report back once there's a progress in the operation, over and out"_

_**Addendum 1: **The search area then later expanded by 15 miles with heavy reliance on U-boats, it is probable the construct has sunk underwater at this time._

**_Log 12: _**

_"We found something, I am not certain whether it's related or not but... this is all we found during the operation. A metal box, or some sort, was floating around the waves, one of my boys saw it from his post in conning tower last night out of accident. We extracted it and examined it, the box is green in color, there are some white symbols painted on it with some numbers and letters, yes human numerical and lettering, at this point it's undeniable the construct is a part or has made contact with humanity before, just like what the eggheads assumed. The symbols are quite distinctive I must say and the letters too are pretty clear, a bird with a shield and globe and the word UNSC on it, some kind of organization? maybe we can check it further later. What caught my attention the most, however, is the word 'CB-255', if it's something like Union standard Hull Lettering Identification then that means the construct is a Large Cruiser or akin, a military vessel for all intends and purposes, and we lost sight of it. What is that ship? what is her intention? why is she transmitting distress signal? So many questions have appeared, it seems like instead of answers we have more of them. Either way, we have to wait, we've reached our deadline and Command has concluded further investigation is a no go considering how the Siren keep attacking us, seemingly dead set to chase us away for some reason..."_

_-Rear Admiral Grand, October 18th 1967._

_The search operation is concluded the following day, effectively ending the operation. Rear Admiral William Grand is relieved of his duty and returned to his position as Northern Home Fleet Commander and Battlegroup Remedy is disbanded. The acquired object is then brought to Eagle Union for further examination._

**_Addendum 1: _**_Prince of Wales has been chosen as Royal Navy representative and she is given an order to observe the object examination progress in Union soil._

**_Log 13:_**

_-Navy Research and Development Facility '**Blue Whale'** Mississippi, Eagle Union, October 20th 1967-_

_The examination has been carried out for the object, it has dimension of 2 meters length, 0.7 meters width and 1 meter height and is made of Titanium and other unidentified matters. The object itself has a total weight of 124 kilograms, an extreme heat resistance and decent buoyancy, it is also airtight and perfectly sealed. A request to examine its inside has been approved after the object is deemed harmless and a team of researchers is ordered to start the procedure._

_The following picture is taken after 3 hours of attempt to pry it open, the object is proven difficult to bypass because of the super dense material it is made off._

"That's a UNSC weapon cache, it can only be opened by active UNSC personel without forcing the cover off" started the Heavy Carrier as she frowned at the aforementioned picture. "Standard ground logistics, a couple of M5 Assault Rifles, BR55 Battle Rifles, M6 Magnums, grenades, magazines and ammo boxes"

"Some of these looks like those weapons you carry" Hornet stated after she compared the picture with both firearms Enterprise had.

The spaceship nodded, gesturing towards the gun beside her and the one on her thigh. "The M5 Assault Rifle, a perfect gun for medium-close range battle and an M6 Magnum, a gun so devastating it can work wonders"

_The contents are as follow; 5 full automatic guns, 5 burst fire guns, 6 handguns, 12 grenades, 26 magazines for each gun types, 6 ammo boxes with 2 containing 1000 rounds of ammunition with caliber 7.62x51mm, 2 boxes containing 500 rounds of ammunition with caliber 9.5x40mm, and the last 2 boxes containing 800 rounds of ammunition with caliber 12.7x40mm._

_Our scientists and engineers are currently working to disassemble some of the weapons and ammunition for research purpose._

**_-End of logs, further informations can be found on Army's Weapon Testing Facility Seventeen report number nine-four-four-three section zero-seven 'Atlantic Incident' and is accessible by the permits of facility's director-_**

"What happened to those weapons?"

Prince of Wales shook her head. "I don't know, it's beyond my jurisdiction. Rumors had it they're used to develop a new shell type for Union ships, maybe some of you are familiar with it?"

"The experimental high velocity semi-armor piercing shell?" Hornet proposed in which Wales shrugged.

"Maybe"

"That does sound plausible, the BR-55 utilizes such ammunition afterall" Began the Heavy Carrier. "I'm sure whatever you gained from them has propelled the technology for decades if not centuries"

"Well, it does sound peculiar when the Navy suddenly threw us a new ammunition. I recall Missouri was the one to try it couples of years ago"

"Those Iowas have always been so excitable when it comes to new toys" David commented, earning a chuckle from Hornet.

"You got that much from a mere weapon cache, compared to myself, it's not even a drop on the ocean. Usually I'd demand for you to return UNSC possession but I don't think that holds any meaning anymore" There was no deeper meaning under her tone yet the volume itself was enough to send shiver down their spines, almost all of the occupants had their eyes on the spaceship immediately. "The situation demands compromises, I have no commanding officer to give me directives so I'm not sure what to do since this is literally the first time I become my own captain. Either way, I have only one question left, why would you consider me as a Siren accomplice?"

"... it is but a mere suspicion. When you Manifested, I saw an essence of Siren inside of you. In addition to the fact we never found the other UNSC ship..."

"You thought I was her?"

"Yes, we barely got clear visual contact with her since somehow she would avoid the area where our observatories are on so all we have are references. The probability that the Siren has influenced that ship is also not out of equation considering how Atlantic Ocean is basically their playground"

When Prince of Wales put it that way, it was not a really reckless action. She did nothing but do her job keeping everyone safe from an unknown possible threat previously seen only to be lost, it's her responsibility as one of the most involved individuals. Enterprise understood this, she would probably do the same if an unknown ship suddenly emerged out of the blue above Reach.

_Well, that already happened though..._

"... what's this 'essence' you are talking about?" Enterprise asked, unclenching her fists she didn't realize had balled on her lap.

"That-"

"Commander!" The double doors leading outside the room burst open with a flash of blue suddenly bolting inside, immediately, everyone was standing on their feet and alerted.

"Helena?! what's the matter?!" David asked the panicking Light Cruiser as she frantically made her way to him.

"Emergency transmission from Sierra-Zero-Two-Four; retrieved a crucial package and an additional HVT codename _Gluttony_, disguise has been compromised requesting combat reinforcement on rally point Delta, expect heavy enemy combined elements on site"

"Sierra?" The Commander shot a glance at the spaceship who suddenly piped in with a mix of surprise and confusion.

"HMS Sheffield, she's away on a covert mission along with Edinburgh deep in enemy's territory" He explained simply, not really paying much attention to her.

"Oh..."

"It's one problem after another, they've missed three rally points so far so that means the enemy have already been there. They're running out of options"

"The rally points are set on international water so we can always send in ships to help under the excuse of Siren extermination, however rally point Delta is still approximately 2500 nautical miles from base and it'll take days to sail there, what should we do, Commander?" Helena asked hopelessly.

"There is no other choice" David said after a period of silence, directing his gaze towards Hornet. "Get all able body and form a fleet then depart immediately, I will take care of the paperwork. I know you are tired, everyone is, but this is an important mission paramount for our fight, we cannot afford to let the Siren get ahold of it"

The blonde Carrier actually threw him a salute, her face morphed into a silent determination. "Yes, sir!"

"Then I will-!"

"No, you stay here, Enterprise. I can't let you running around with no offensive capability whatsoever"

Hornet reluctantly put a comforting hand on her sister's shoulder. "It's okay, I got this, even though I'm like this I'm still one of the legendary Yorktowns!"

David gave the dejected Carrier a warning look before addressing the spaceship. "I'm sorry but we have to adjourn this meeting"

"Then I will take my leave now, I have no more business" said the other Enterprise understandingly. She picked her gun off the ground and hefted it in one hand, the gesture made the other occupants to tense up for a second before she put it on her back where it later attached itself with small _click._

"Where are you going?" The Commander queried when the spaceship silently made her way out the room, even with such heavy equipments she didn't make any sound when she walked.

The answer present itself when a loud whine of jet engine suddenly filled his office, they looked outside the window when an aircraft flew past it before landing on the front yard, drawing many Ship-girls' attention especially since it seemed different.

"I'm going to prioritize my repair first while looking for that other UNSC ship, I'll be on the planet's low orbit, so if you need me just send me a message, there won't be a reply though"

"Send you a message? to where?"

"Anywhere you like I'd still pick it up"

The implication was... disturbing. She was saying she could intercept all their signal and they wouldn't notice it.

"Understood"

She gave him a parting nod before stepping outside the room. Not long after, the aircraft whined once again as it shot up to the sky, followed with a loud rumbling the Commander had grown accustomed to hearing which was coming from none other than Enterprise's three powerful rocket engines.

Nobody uttered a word at first as they quietly watched her disappear on the night sky, one thought lingered on them, left on her wake even when her lights had faded away along the stars.

They were a hairline away from demise and her presence could either be the blessing they needed or the curse they would never anticipate, for all they knew she was the cursed blessing, one that had been set on motion to shift whatever sense of balance the world had.

For better or worse, none of them could tell.

"You've been oddly silent" Enterprise softly said to Queen Elizabeth, giving the smaller girl a look. "You and Illustrious"

"Contrary to popular belief, I'm not really good with strangers" said the Royal Navy Carrier somehow sheepishly.

"I merely chose to observe this newcomer, one had to uncover her intention between us six"

"What did you gain from your keen observation? what do you think of her?"

"She is an epitome of unwavering duty, a true warrior that will not falter even on the face of death. Whereon her duty had been complete when she fell, she holds it dear on her second life because her duty is all she have and know. I have seen those eyes, eyes that will never lose their lights unless on death, eyes of the shackled souls that wish nothing else but objectives, not even their freedom. Her's in particular are more intense and it is honestly terrifying, I certainly do not wish for her to be our enemy"

"But what is her duty?" the Aircraft Carrier asked almost rhetorically but Queen Elizabeth still replied with a shake of her head.

"I know not of it"

David turned towards Prince of Wales, giving the Battleship a tired look. "You have a clue?"

"No, sir. None of the reports show anything about it"

He sighed, slumping down onto the couch with his head resting on its backrest. "I just hope it's nothing drastic because at this point hoping is the only thing we can do"

"I saw..." Hornet began reluctantly and in an instant she had everyone's gazes settled on her. "...Her ship crest... there's something written on it"

Words written on a ship's crest usually meant the motto of the ship itself, it's representing her crew's wishes or a factor of identity. It could be translated as the ship's fixed and bounded preservation, one that was close to her duty.

"What is it?"

_"Caelum Est Spe"_

**_TBC_**

**So technically this update is faster than before even though the count is just some mere days lol but hey I kept my promise!**

**Lot of you guys keep reminding and cheering me to improve my grammar and boy I couldn't ask for something better from my dear readers (probably) and I really _really _appreciate it when you guys point out where I do wrong the most amidst the many, really I appreciate it so much I can't say enough of gratitude. One thing I want to say is that, English is hard, so please don't judge or think bad of me when I made mistakes in the future.**

**That little life advice? yeah I take it, I am know working on my big bro's workshop, though saying 'working' is a bit of overstatement you can say I'm learning rather. But yeah, just saying I have little less time to write stuff with me usually doing around 200 words per day. I'm planning to enter college next year, I'm going to take English as one of my courses, have to take a formal and deeper lesson you know?**

**So anyway, as always, a little bit of spoilers to compensate my terrible update schedules.**

**-UNSC Enterprise will not be giving some tech upgrade to AL ships, main reason is to upgrade a ship especially to that much of an extent means you have to pull her whole electronics out and replace them, too long time.**

**-I don't plan to excessively put UNSC ships into the story because it will ruin the atmosphere than anything, frankly speaking.**

**-The story follows the show but I alter some things, like how Crimson Axis and Azur Lane had once united but seceded later on.**

**-I chose Epoch-class because I feel like it's the most balanced Carrier in Halo universe, unlike the Supercarrier or a normal Carrier, an Epoch can be used as jack of all trades. Actually there is a reason why I take her, a reason for the future I think you guys will like.**

**Most of you guys ask sensitive questions so for the sake of the story I must refuse to answer them, I'll try to reply whatever question you guys send my way but curiosity is inevitable and it's not always end well, so I'm sorry it's for the best.**

**And yes, it's a reference to Ace Combat 4, I'm a huge of fan of the series and as the story progress you may find more AC references.**

**So anyway, that should be all. I'll see you guys in the next update and as always please leave review, I won't mind it so don't be shy okay?****See you guys later.**

**Cipher032 out!**


	6. Chapter 6: First Flight

**Chapter 6: First Flight**

_"Oxygen value requirements achieved, life support system for Block A-3 is now activated, pressure and humidity are on acceptable level. Disengaging protective bulkheads for Block A-3"_

Synthetic voice resonated through her empty hallways, replacing the silence for some brief few seconds until it too was swallowed by the said silence, once again leaving a quiet air on the lifeless metal corridors.

"Alright then..."

A metal door hissed open, one person that could be considered as the only living being around stood behind it with her hands on her back, eyes scanning the recently reconnected section keenly searching for any problems the repair drones might have missed, no matter how small the chance was.

The corridor was dark, at least until the local emergency light kicked in, illuminating the area with eerie red glow. Puddles of water scattered around the floor barely noticable and the water dripping from the ceiling made it more obvious the corridor could be a bit dangerous to venture on.

Enterprise found it unnerving at first, the sight of her insides empty of any living being usually meant bad thing unless when she was docked, as usual as it could be for a Heavy Carrier anyway. Granted, during her decades of service there was never one moment where she was truly empty, even at most she would still have her skeleton crew around manning her necessary stations, so to be the only one person onboard a 2,5 kilometers long ship made her uneasy despite it being her own self.

She knew there was nobody around that would harm her, but that fact was like a double edged sword that pointed to two directions, meaning it failed to sate her nervousness. The constant feeling of something watching from the corners or the hum of her environment control system made her jumpy especially after what she had gone through above Reach where a group of cloaked Elites boarded and proceeded to slaughtered her crew on the very same hallways she walked on right now, it made her lost count how many times she overrode an internal surveillance sensor just to make sure she was truly alone.

That was what she experienced on the first two days, now however it's all water under the bridge and she's pretty much capable to ignore most things, keyword on_ most _because what before her right now wasn't one of those things.

Despite it, what she's concerned of the most, was some technical issues than anything. There was this one time she stepped inside a flooded room only to have herself zapped by high current courtesy of a damaged power route, it didn't kill her but it did make her feel funny for a whole hour following it and she didn't like it because she literally blew a fuse thanks to it, she didn't know nor understand how she survived the ordeal considering the voltage was enough to blow a Pelican apart but she had considered it as one of the 'how-in-the-actual-frick-I-am-alive-as-a-human' ordeal she was on.

She had resigned herself to not think too much about it at this point.

One thing that was irrefutable though, she's badly understaffed, and understaffed was an overstatement in this scenario. True that she was designed to be operated by the minimum of people down to a single person and an AI, as long as there was an AI she could still maintain a broad performance, but an AI she didn't have, during her last moment her Captain had enacted Cole Protocol and wiped _everything_ off of her mainframe including her long time partner AI before committing his Kamikaze move.

It was strange, she could vaguely remember that day, a day that happened roughly 10 days ago in accordance to her built-in calender, the day where the last ship of the Epsilon Eridani Fleet went supernova. Bits and pieces were all Enterprise remembered, she could recall the retreat order, and then the frantic calls in the Battle-net, and then the silence as she was left behind by her comrades, no, rather, she _chose _to be left behind.

That day, she sacrificed herself for one ship.

* * *

_"Captain, engineering reporting in, the Slipspace Drive has been successfully disposed of and all radioactive leaks have been contained. Block F-12 through G-5 are now under lockdown"_

_Enterprise heard her Chief of Engineering called in through the INTERCOM to the bridge where her Captain was on, observing the planet she was orbiting around with a grim look._

_"Understood, thank you and good work"_

_Despite the situation, the spaceship couldn't help but admired her Captain. He was a man on his late 50s, had been serving in the Navy for more than half his life, dedicating all he had for UNSC and mankind and should be close to his retirement had the war never happened, with experienced leaders getting scarce, the Navy had no choice but to keep everyone onboard as long as they could._

_He was a man of few words to strangers, but it's the opposite when it came to his subordinates, crew had it circling around her that the Captain did it intentionally as a part of his strategy, saying something along the line 'first impression need not to be impressing, you let them know what they need to know, no excess'._

_It was not a far-fetched idea, she knew her Captain was a cunning man and an impeccable strategist, one did not command a capital ship for all his career without showing his worth much lest an Epoch-class like her._

_He would always manage to bring her home in one piece, one way or another._

_"Sir, we've got another Spartan flat line, tag designation reads Carter-A259"_

_"Where?"_

_"Near SinoViet Ship Breaking facility, down in a Pelican, sir"_

_"Dammit... How many Spartans left near that area?"_

_"Three, two active and one temporarily inactive onboard __the _Pillar of Autumn"

_"Can you contact the _Autumn_?"_

_"Negative, Captain, we lost the long range communication dish, I had used short range antennas but there were so much interferences from Covenant glassing our signal wouldn't reach them"_

_The Captain crossed his arms, a frustrated look adorning his face for a moment. __"Come on, Keyes... Get out of there"_

_Sparks flew off from a destroyed monitor and severed power lines on her ceiling, and for a second the light on her bridge dimmed due to power shortage, blanketing the room in a brief darkness before the back-up lines came online._

_"Captain, we are being hailed by the _Bay of Storm" _One of the crew reported casually, ignoring the power outrage that just happened__, it's a common occurance by now._

_"Patch it through"_

_"Aye, sir, isolating the signal now"_

_Enterprise tried to locate the UNSC Destroyer with her Radar and scanner, browsing through clouds of debris floating about Reach's orbit, debris which were once her fleetmates, now destroyed to the point she couldn't distinguish who was who anymore. The sight was enough to fuel her anger and grief with fresh vigour, burning hot feelings that weren't caused by the plasma damage she suffered deep in her core._

_She wanted blood, blood to satisfy her desire for revenge, revenge against those who had done humanity and her wrong. But so much on her had wrong themselves, she wouldn't be able to do anything even if she tried aside from insignificant struggles._

_"Captain, I detect an abnormal fluctuation in the ship's reactor" A female voice suddenly called out, and not long after a blue hologram popped up on a nearby holo-table. "Should I have it diagnosed?"_

_"That won't be necessary, Sophia, she often do that, perhaps out of spite to this sickening view and war..."_

_"This is indeed not the first time it happened, do you truly believe that notion, sir?"_

_"I've served aboard her for almost 30 years from the day I was an enlisted to an officer, you'd start to understand a trait or two whether you like it or not"_

_The AI hummed in response. "Interesting" she simply said before diving back into Enterprise's system. "I have the optimal communication solutions, connecting us to _Bay of Storm _now"_

_"Thank you, Sophia"_

_A monitor lit up near the Captain's chair displaying the _Bay of Storm _as she flew just on the edge of Enterprise's maximum secondary comm range and closing to her position._

"Enterprise_ actual, do you read?"_

_"Loud and clear, _Bay of Storm"

_"Sir, HIGHCOM have just issued a full retreat from Epsilon Eridani, we are here to notify you since you did not respond to our comms"_

_And just like that, all activity ceased to be as the world suddenly fell quiet. All crew members stopped dead on their tracks, eyes focused on towards the Captain who only frowned in return._

_It was a fact that they were losing, the Covenant fleets invading Reach were not a match UNSC Navy could take in, not even during their prime. It's probably the biggest invasion force ever seen to attack one system, so everyone understood that they were doomed to lose since the beginning._

_Words from HIGHCOM were the final nails to the coffin, it's the confirmation they needed to tell they had already lost._

**_But... this was not what I wanted._**

_"Son, I'm afraid that is not possible for us" The Captain declared eventually after what seemingly an eternity, his words snapped the crew out of their stupor and they continued to conduct their respective jobs silently._

_"May I ask why, sir?'_

_"The last Covenant boarding party got us pretty good, _Enterprise_ lost not just hundreds of brave men and women defending her but also an important part of her; her Slipspace Drive, our ticket out of this predicament"_

**_I'm sorry, Captain._**

_"Then we have no choice but to scuttle her"_

**_Yes, just leave me, Captain, save yourself and everyone._**

_"How many personel do you have onboard? we might still have some space to spare on _Bay of Storm"

_The Captain didn't answer right away, instead he focused his gaze on the burning surface of Reach for a long time, wondering about a lot of things that could have gone better and the what ifs, an area he usually would rather not wander on. He had no need to to see the exact numbers, he already had it memorized._

_"1874, mostly are wounded and civilians"_

**_1874? Captain it's 1875 why did you-_**

_"Understood, sounds the evacuation alarm and we will take care of the rest, over and out"_

_A tired sigh, one filled with resignment, one from a person who had seen enough and had been around for too long in a ride they didn't want, left his lips. __"Lieutenant Franklin, alarms off, please"_

_The Comm Officer nodded stiffly, inputting the necessary codes and orders to his console. When he was done, the light illuminating the bridge suddenly went off and was replaced with a red glow of emergency light, a siren roaring in the background._

_"All hands abandon ship, all hands abandon ship, crew go to your nearest escape pod, civilians and wounded are to go by Pelicans and Condors. UNSC _Bay of Storm _will provide the needed assistance_, _repeat, all hands..."_

_"__Sir! another Spartan flat line! this time on the break yard!" A bridge officer announced loudly._

_"Activities detected on _Pillar of Autumn, _she's about to transit, Captain" Said Enterprise's AI suddenly as she popped up once again. "I managed to piggy back _Bay of Storm's _sensors via data-link, the Covenant are moving an Assault Carrier and three Battlecruisers to intercept _Pillar of Autumn _i__n orbit"_

_"They won't make it through that much of firepower..."_

_"124 seconds until estimated intercept point, Captain"_

_"Damn it all!" The Captain cursed under his breath. "Sophia, how much offensive capability do we have left?"_

_"MAC is primed and ready to go, we have 15 shots left, deck guns are down to 7% ammo level including both forward coilguns and we've exhausted pretty much all of our Bident to provide ground troops back-up. However, we just replenished the Archer pods and they are at 30% capacity"_

_"It's still not enough to take down an Assault Carrier, maybe one Battlecruiser we could... What about the fighters?"_

_"15 Broadswords are all we have left, Captain"_

_"... We might be able to pull this off, you and me"_

_"Captain?"_

_The man silently got down to his seat on the middlemost of Enterprise's bridge, not unaware with the gaze he received from his underlings. "Get everyone off the ship, Sophia, and prepare the reactors for self-destruct"_

_"Understood, sir, I will prepare a shuttle for you-"_

_"No, I'll stay"_

**_No..._**

_"That won't be necessary, Captain, I can perform the action by myself" Protested the AI, it was all but a successful persuasion._

_"I am responsible for her actions, the decisions I make, the orders I give, it's all on me. Don't deny me this, Sophia"_ _He said with an unfaltering conviction, giving her a resolved look._

_Sophia fell silent as seconds went by, an eternity for AI such as herself, she used those precious moments to search for any hint of hesitation in the Captain's eyes but all she found was sadness and pure anger, burning bright but concealed by layers of self-control and discipline._

_"We are staying too, Captain" One of the bridge crew declared out loud, his action was followed by a series of confirmations from his fellow officers._

_"Men, this is a one way trip, you have a way home waiting you outside and no else"_

_They stood up, sharing a glance at each other but instead of swaying their conviction it caused the exact opposite._

_"We make our own way home, sir"_

_The Captain sucked in a deep breath and closed his eyes, listening to the familiar sounds of Enterprise's bridge, his bridge, his crew. "It's been an honour serving with all of you" He said as he threw a salute to every single person on stations._

_A crisp and rigid salute was all he received in return but it was all he needed. "The honour is ours, Captain Stallion"_

_The Captain of the Heavy Carrier UNSC _Enterprise, _Jameson Stallion, the man who had gone through battles after battles and worlds after worlds with countless medals on his possession more than most people could hope to achieve, considered himself very lucky to serve alongside these brave men and women, he would trade everything he had to have their resolve but they gave it to him without a hint of doubt in their unwavering gaze, what more could he ask from the finest of the Navy other than this?_

_A small smile found its way on his face, a genuine smile of triumph he hadn't felt for years. He knew with people like them, even venturing hell would be just another walk in the park, he knew by the fact they had encountered many hells before and survived them. But alas, his long and arduous journey had finally come to its end, strange he didn't feel any fear at all._

_"Comm, evacuation progress?" His words were like a wake up call that gently nudged his crew awake, they blinked once before setting down to attend their own stations._

_"Last Condor has just entered Slipspace, Captain, and the _Bay of Storm _has moved out to retrieve the final batch of escape pods"_

_Condor, one of those wonders Reach had. When they said they had what basically an elongated Pelican that capable to transit through Slipspace, he thought ONI finally found a way to make jokes but it seemed the Office of Naval Intelligence were still the same stuck ups and freaks he'd rather stay away from. Still, it's thanks to those experimental transports he could put some of his men to safety._

_"Engines full ahead flank, get us to that intercept point, let's crash the party the Covenant have so kindly started"_

_"Aye sir, full ahead flank"_

_"Captain, what is the battle plan?" Sophia asked as the Captain sat back down to his chair__, earning a brief glance from him._

_"There is no plan, Sophia, we hit them as hard as we can and inflict as much damage to at least provide _Pillar of Autumn _a way out"_

_"Hm, charming" The AI said cheekily before retreating back, at the same time Enterprise's deck shuddered as her massive engines suddenly came to life and pushed the ship forward, maneuvering around the field of debris swiftly, a grace that betrayed her size._

_"Just doing my job" He muttered to no one in particular, his hand unconsciously rubbing his chair's armrest. "This is it, girl, seems like our luck has ran out. Don't worry I will keep you accompanied for as long as I can"_

**_... Thank you, Captain._**

* * *

"Access granted"

The massive bulkheads protecting her bridge hissed open the moment she stepped near it, giving Enterprise a clear view of what was once her head. This was the first time she set her foot inside the large chamber since she returned to her metal form because there was actually no need for her to be there at all, being aware of everything happening on her included her bridge and thousand of other systems necessary to operate a Heavy Carrier.

She didn't felt strange at all when her proximity alert system warned her about a closing satellite and other orbital bodies, or when her automatic thrusters control surface suddenly came online and maneuvered herself away from the collision course, at least no longer she felt disturbed by some superficial systems ingrained within her mainframe going full computer automatic. They're like this small buzz of thought passing by deep in her mind, barely noticeable but still there if she focused hard enough.

Power, sensors, system diagnostics, communications, scanners, traffic control for her fighters and drones, life support, outer hull anti-frosting and anti-gravity plating managements, emergency RCS and surface controls, were ones of many features she had. Usually it would take a military-grade Smart AI and human hands to have them organized but she had them all nestled inside her brain like a trivial thoughts such as breakfast, and she had full access and authority on them.

True though, there were still a lot of Dumb AIs scattered around to keep simple programs running without a hitch, such as the ones inside her Broadswords. Enterprise learned, while she had full control of her fighters, they could still act independently when contacts were lost with her thanks to the Dumb AIs installed in them. They were but a simple program though, usually tasked to guide a Broadsword to dock to its mother ship or in case of emergency to remote control the craft. Her's, however, had one default order with them that couldn't be removed.

Protect UNSC _Enterprise _at all cost.

It's not just her Broadswords but also her squadrons of Pelicans, Condors-which somehow she retained despite they never spent more than 5 hours docked inside her back above Reach-and the other vehicles she had in her disposal, all had that one absolute instruction.

The AIs were also more... talkative. They could actually hold a conversation albeit only limited with battle-related stuff such as orders and tactical input but it's definitely not a trait they exhibited before.

Enterprise was tempted to pursue more about the AIs abnormal behaviors but she honestly couldn't care less regarding the technical stuff, she's a warship first and foremost not a research vessel, as long as it work then she's fine with.

_Rule number one of any armed force; if it's not broken don't fix it. _

She idly thought as she walked past computers and terminals lining up across her bridge, each displaying their own functions Enterprise briefly glanced at since her gaze was set on one single point in the middle of the room.

Her command chair.

It looked surreal, it felt just like yesterday when her bridge was bustling with people, and it felt just like yesterday she saw her Captain sitting on his chair reviewing reports and intels with his usual neutral expression. But now, just like her other floors, everything was dead silent all she could hear was the faint chime and hum in the background, not even a single footstep exist.

She hesitantly took a stride forward, then another and another until she was directly behind the said chair, looking down on it keenly as if it was a pack of explosives. As expected, it was as clean as new, not a hint of deformity could be seen on its structure or weary appearance caused by long term usage whatsoever.

All of her had been cleaned _clean, _not a single crew's possession existed within her anymore, not even her Captain's in his personal quarters, or the dead bodies of her anti-boarding party. It's like she had just exited the shipyard and was about to conduct her maiden voyage except she's badly damaged from battle already.

"What... should I do, Captain?" Enterprise whispered to the emptiness, tracing her fingers on the soft surface of the chair. She didn't expect for any answer but it's still disappointing when there was none, right now all she needed was someone to give her orders, a direction or some sort now it's impossible to make contact or randezveous with the UNSC since she refused to risk the planet below her to the Covenant's mercy.

Astronavigation failed to pin-point her exact location, there was no reference point recognizable and matching her databases nor there was a NAV buoy anywhere nearby. She could have used her Slipspace Communication suites but she didn't have any Slipspace Drive to send the signal through with, Condors were simply out of question since they could only do short jump in expense of their Slipspace Drive, the last thing she needed was getting stranded in the middle of nowhere while she had already stranded.

Enterprise could only hope her radio picked up something by keeping it on the whole time.

The Heavy Carrier sighed deeply, closing her eyes briefly before sliding into her command chair, she mentally ordered the bulkheads protecting her bridge to be unsealed and a moment later she had a clear view of the space and the planet below.

It was an exact copy of the Earth she knew.

The geography, the topology, they were all matching with 20th century Earth according to her database. Continents and cities were the same as far as she knew except for half of the Asia, Europe, South America and Australia.

They were a bunch of radioactive wastelands.

She had drones deployed all over the planet, taking whatever info she needed to understand the Earth before her, but she never thought it would hit her with the might of a flying brick. The radiation kept scrambling her drones but she was certain she saw the remnants of war zones on the desolated surfaces. If Enterprise had to guess, it seemed either their World War went terribly wrong or their fight against the Siren had forced them to take such drastic measure, still, seeing half of a planet destroyed awoken a disdain deep inside her core.

The Heavy Carrier understood, that mankind would always find a war deep within them, it's a part of human nature they would never be able to get rid of. She was in no position to criticize it though since she was a tool of war, built to shed blood and take life, a slave of an unbreakable destiny. In no way was she a naïve idiot who thought peace could be achieved just by mutual feelings, there would always be squabbles and conflicting ideas.

When faced against a common enemy was the time humanity would unite together under the same banner, but even so they would always find times to throw each others off of the balance they created, just like the Inssurectionist during Human-Covenant War. This world before her however was not really unlike it, they fought one another over the difference of beliefs while trying to survive the heavy seas, true once they had banded together but they discarded the idea in exchange of their own egos.

Enterprise understood what that unknown Siren she met earlier meant when she pointed it out, long before she arrived on this place for far before she was reborn in flesh and blood she had seen the wars and struggles humanity had been so foolishly created by their own, high from the heaven they often looked up so wistfully.

She just refused to acknowledge it.

While it was true, it was also wrong. War and destruction weren't the only things mankind produced, often did the barren lands they left offer a new life. No matter how many time they destroyed, they would rebuild from the ashes, creating things previously unknown and unthinkable by many, prospering and stronger than before.

Humanity would find a way, and this world should too.

A ping from one of her sensors caught Enterprise's attention and she frowned in response as a squadron of Broadswords flew past her bridge, she mentally searched the source and found out it was from her dedicated observation camera she set on a specific location, namely the so called Azur Lane Pacific Base.

_"Activity detected, displaying image data to holo-center"_

The massive holo projector located directly in front of the Captain's seat came to life with a small hum, giving Enterprise a clear view of the base below her with an utmost precision.

_What do we have here... _She thought to herself, watching the base keenly. It wasn't until 5 seconds later something flashed before her, literally flashed.

It was faint due to the lightning interference but her camera managed to filter the image so it was undoubtedly a courtesy of a searchlight, probably the one used during air raid. Still, it baffled her why would they use it instead of sending a transmission out, she did tell them they could just do that randomly and she would still pick the transmission up not yet to mention they risked of major interference by using light signal in broad daylight especially in such distance. It's not a problem for her though but they didn't know it, did they?

_Though... Morse code?_

She blinked once to get rid of her bewilderment before reading it slowly "Presence needed, break, urgent matter, break, please come immediately". Enterprise waited for a couple of seconds until she was certain the message looped, meaning that was all it contained.

It was, however, all Enterprise needed to call her repair drones back inside and post-poned her repair attempt, it was all she needed to spin up her engines and begin to descend to the base below.

As her bow dove down, Enterprise couldn't help but wonder what kind of trouble awaited her under there.

* * *

"No is a no, Enterprise"

"Sir, with all due respect-"

"With all due respect, is exactly what people would say before saying something disrespectful, my decision won't change"

"Commander, please, I can't let her be just like that!"

Helena silently strode behind the arguing duo, her head swinging back and forth between the Commander and Enterprise as they threw words to each other. The Light Cruiser had a deep frown of concern on her face, one that didn't go unnoticed by many Ship-girls they met along the way, especially Vestal who just like her decided to keep her mouth shut, Helena honestly couldn't fathom why Vestal was there on the first place since it's pretty unusual for her to tag along.

They were on their way to Briefing Room, built inside the main structure of Command Center not so far from Commander's office. Rumours had it flying around the base they were about to conduct an emergency operation but Helena knew better since she was the one responsible for base communication.

It was true.

That morning, Helena just finished her daily routine and was about to mount her shift when she received an urgent request from Hornet's group. Apparently they were ambushed by Crimson Axis who had rallied themselves with the Sirens, it's just a partial message but she heard what she needed.

Hornet's group was by no means a small one, it was filled with battle experienced ships, most came from the top according to base ranking. Helena was confident they would make it through after extracting Sheffield and Edinburgh but she refused to left things on chance this time, not with how crucial this operation was.

"I thought you would understand how painful it was to lose a sister" Enterprise's words caught the blue haired girl's attention, snapping her out of her train of thoughts. Helena flinched when the Commander suddenly stopped on the middle of his track, and not long after Enterprise realized the metaphorical mine she stepped on. "I... didn't..." She tried to find her voice but failed to, instead, she bowed her head down in remorse. "Hornet is the only one I have left, Commander, I have failed one of my sisters and she... She is the only person I can't disappoint, not anymore"

Seconds passed as they stood still in the hallways, nobody uttered a word until the Commander suddenly inhaled deeply. "I understand" He said simply, resuming his pace to the Briefing Room while the two girls stayed behind.

Helena glanced at Enterprise, concern filling her gaze when the Aircraft Carrier stayed frozen in place. She reluctantly put a reassuring hand on her shoulder. "Let's go help your sister"

"... You're coming?"

"I am, someone has to point out where they are" The Light Cruiser smiled warmly, patting Enterprise in a friendly gesture before motioning for her to follow the Commander with her. "Come now"

Wordlessly, Enterprise complied, striding in with renewed resolve with Helena. It didn't take them long to reach the appointed room and by the time they were there, some familiar faces had already been waiting, some which even surprised Enterprise.

Belfast, Warspite, Vestal, San Diego and the whole Destroyer Squadron 23 were huddled together while the Commander stood on the front of the room, chatting with Glasgow. The sole Battleship currently present, Warspite, still had bandage rolling down her _good _arm while the other had a sling supporting it, but even so it betrayed the defiant look on her face that said she would not back down from the upcoming mission.

The Commander noticed them entering and he stopped whatever conversation he had with Glasgow. "Alright, everyone's here" He said loud enough to get their attention, and in an instant all idle talks were gone. "Settle down, people, we have no time to waste"

Enterprise nodded when David gave him a look, sitting down on the adjacent chairs beside Warspite while Vestal took her other side. The light dimmed down as the curtains drawn themselves automatically, blanketing the room in a darkness until the ceiling mounted projector came to life, displaying a satellite imaging of an island.

"At 0600 this morning we received a distress signal from Hornet's group, as we all know they went to sortie approximately 7 days ago to evacuate our units behind enemy line" The Commander began before pointing at the image with laser pointer. "This is Rally Point Delta, a former trading city located near the outer ring of Sakura Empire's territory. 20 years ago Siren attack devastated this city resulting in massive destruction and casualty and a decision to abandon it was given shortly after, now it is nothing but a ghost town and no human activity had been detected until a few days ago" David pressed a button on its controller and a new image replaced the previous one immediately.

The Ship-girls gasped.

"What... is happening?!"

"That place is a full fledge war zone!"

"It's burning! The sea is burning!"

"Look at those black dots! Are those... Sirens?!"

What was once a peaceful display of an abandoned city was replaced with a scene of carnage, even with the low resolution Enterprise could still make out ship remains and debris floating above the water surface, fire raging from spilled fuel all over the place keeping the bright glow burning eternally.

The image sent a shiver down the Carrier's spine, she unconsciously wrapped her hands around herself in a search for comfort, knowing full well it was not the first time she witnessed such scene.

In fact, she had seen so many similiar scenes she's sick of it.

"My sister is there... Hornet... My little sister..." Enterprise mumbled, staring forward with empty gaze that betrayed her distressful tone. "We have to help them, I can't... I don't want to lose Hornet too... Not again...". Nobody knew what to say, it was the first time many of them saw Enterprise acted like that, most of the time she had her feelings guarded well but this time it came flooding down like a broken dam Enterprise was practically jittering on her seat.

Vestal was among few who knew Enterprise's true color, she was well versed with the Yorktown sisters and that including their inseparability. Seeing Enterprise like this was actually relieving as much as it a torment because it proved her she still cared about something aside from fighting.

_But still..._

"Even if..." Helena began somberly, deliberately keeping her eyes down to her lap. "Even if we are to sortie now, it'll still take us days to arrive. It would be too late by then"

The reality of her words dawned on them like a freezing water, washing down their bodies with merciless cold. Enterprise seemed like someone had punched her on the guts and she actually _whimpered_, it would have come as surprise had everyone didn't feel too distressed themselves.

"Sir, what about contacting Union 7th Fleet for help? _Constitution _has with her the new F-14s, surely they can reach the target in no time?" Belfast proposed, desperately trying to find a way to help their comrades. Even though her face stayed neutral, a deep turmoil had settled in her heart knowing the last time she met her friends would be the final _last._

"I have mentioned it earlier but this operation is too sensitive for direct interference, if Union were to send ships it would spark a flame of war with Sakura Empire considering the current tension between the two, we can't afford that"

"I will go" Enterprise suddenly declared, standing up to her feet. "I don't care even if it was too late I would help them with everything I got, anything better than sitting idly here"

"And who said we will do nothing?" David quickly said when the Carrier seemed ready to bolt out of the room, his words however effectively stopped her in track. "I have plans"

Hope swelled up in their hearts, a glimmer of fire replacing their empty gaze, when the Commander said he had plans, then that meant there was a way to help their friends, even to save them.

Before anyone could say anything in response, the doors behind them suddenly swung open, casting the room with bright light. A silhouette of a person stood there, unmoving except for the head as they silently scanned the place.

"Glad you can make it in time" Said the Commander in greeting. "Thank you for coming" he added more sincerely with a small smile.

It took them a moment to adjust their eyes, but the heavy stomping from a pair of boots was the first given they recognized far before she uttered a word. "What's the situation?"

"Take a seat, I'll explain"

A surge of activity and sound filled the air as the Destroyers shuffled out of her way, Glasgow who had been sitting with DesRon 23 was accidentally knocked down to the floor with small yelp of surprise, she didn't have the time -or will- to stay on her path even though her forehead was in serious pain, scrambling away with Union Destroyers to the edge of the room.

"Why are you here?"

"Same reason as you people, apparently"

Belfast tensed up when the chair on her side creaked out as a weight was added on it, the newcomer barely spared her a glance though in opposite to Warspite and Vestal who were staring at her like she was a ghost, a bit of disbelief was also present on their faces.

The Commander cleared his throat and continued his briefing. "This is an informal rescue operation, paper has it as another Siren extermination but our objectives are to get Hornet's team and the packages out, we will deny any conflict happening here with the Crimson Axis no matter what and that by default your presence, any question?"

A hand shot upwards, the owner was none other than the recent addition to the room, even though she just arrived she had blended in pretty quickly with the rest. "Yeah, what are the packages?"

The Commander barely had enough time to catch himself from raising an eyebrow, usually people would be more apprehensive and concerned by the fact they're doing an 'unofficial' mission but she's more focused to the objectives. This could be only mean one thing and it was this mission was probably not her first time. "A HVT by the name Akashi, Sakura Empire Repair Ship and Fleet Technician, she goes AWOL after a certain circumstance and is currently attached with Sheffield and Edinburgh, she also possesses a deep knowledge of intelligence regarding our enemy and Sakura Empire's plans according to Sheffield"

"And the other?"

"It's a key, for what we don't know yet but it's something big seeing how they basically throw everything they have to get it back, even the Sirens are restless, you don't see that often from them"

The woman was obviously interested with the informations judging by the way she shifted on her seat, a fact that didn't escape David. But he's more than willing to share a bit of intel with her as long he had his girls returned safely. "I know this is probably too soon to ask for your help but we don't have much choice or time to spare, I promise I will give a proper explanation once we get them back to base"

"You don't have to sell yourself sort, I am merely returning the favor. I don't see any spook roaming around the base nor there's nuclear missile heading my way so far, I am honestly grateful for that" She smirked then, crossing her arms in front of her chest. "That offer, though, I will take it"

David nodded. "I had to pull some strings but it seems it was worth it"

"Sir" Vestal interrupted loudly, gaining both parties' attention. "When you said plans, did you mean her?" She said, gesturing towards the person next to Belfast.

"I thought that's an established fact when she arrived. The Battle Plan will rely heavily on her, the infil, execution and exfil are all on her, that's why I need her here to give me inputs on her capability but so far here's the plan" He pressed another button and the display changed once again, this time multiple arrows suddenly popped up in various places along with descriptions. "Sakura Empire and Iron Blood respectively have their ships in the AO, a separate cell from the Central Fleet and High Seas Fleet, they are mostly scattered on these canals acting as the main force but a few have been detected staying outside providing firepower and recon"

"Case is, we are outnumbered and outgunned since the very beginning, the enemy also have home field advantage and they play it pretty well. So far satellite imaging have revealed at least 65 Siren ships, 15 of which Battleships, 20 Cruisers, 10 Aircraft Carriers while the rest are a combination of Destroyers and Korvets, all mass-produced type"

"Easy to kill cannon fodders but with those numbers..." Vestal trailed of mid-sentence, not wanting to add more unnecessary thoughts.

"It is but a pre-determined number, however, a small calculation revealed there were at least twice the amount before, meaning someone or some people had been sweeping them clean, take a guess" Realization crashed on them like a heavy tide and a new excitement found its way on their eyes, if the numbers kept reducing then that meant someone was still fighting out there and it wouldn't be a futile operation. "The message we previously received is an automatic distress signal, its actual date of broadcast is yesterday, for some reason a delay occured but I bet my neck the Siren must have done something, probably jamming"

This time Warspite was the one asking a question, earning a brief glance from David. "What about Sakura Empire and Iron Blood strength? How many of them are there?"

"We can't confirm for sure but there are at least 2 Carriers and 2 Supercarriers, a couple of Battleships and some Cruisers are also detected but expect Destroyers too along these ruins, they are nimble and hard to spot from air especially with such environments and with how tight the space is they will be the most dangerous especially their Long Lance torpedoes"

"And Hornet's Team? Do we know where they are?"

"We already have it figured out" The display changed once again, this time a tall clock tower replaced the earlier picture. The building was not in very good shape, its walls were riddled with holes if not straight up gone while the roof had half of it blown off, smoke and fire dotting its surrounding most in which caused by shell rounds and bombs. "This is where they are, holed up together in the top floor. The enemy is being careful, they could have blown the whole tower off but for some reason they didn't, probably because how delicate the packages are and we can use that to our advantage"

When the blonde seemed satisfied with his answer the Commander continued. "We have enemy reinforcement closing in the island from North, ETA 5 hours, more ships are coming and one of them is Shinano, you know how dangerously packed she Is so we can't afford them arrive" He let his words sunk in for a second, letting them know the full extent of their enemy capability before turning towards a certain someone, someone he needed to know the capability too. "Now, how do you like to proceed?"

The Heavy Carrier didn't reply right away, her arms still crossed and eyes forward, the glow of the projector reflecting on her maroon orbs giving an illusions of them glowing in the dark, while the other occupants had their expectant albeit surprised gazes set on her, the latter was probably because the Commander specifically called her out to aid with the briefing. "It's a race against time but we can manage, if transport and firepower are what we need then I got them covered" She uttered without a hint of hesitation before getting up and walking towards the projected image, index finger tapping the backboard at one specific place. "This tower? We can use it as our extraction point, we'll evacuate them directly from topside so that way we don't have to stretch our forces thin"

Belfast straightened up on her seat. "We do not have the means to do that"

Before the Heavy Carrier could answer, her counterpart suddenly spoke up from Belfast's side. "We don't but she does... Commander, when you said we will rely heavily on her you didn't mean she will be the one doing everything, right?"

"She will not, and hopefully she will not have to. Frankly speaking I wouldn't even have this ops in the first place had she not been here, many of you are still unfit for combat while the others main task is base defense, if you are away and Siren attack us then we're doomed but I'm confident you guys can pull this off with her around"

"Having more assets is not a bad thing, and while I'm flattered by your Commander's words I'm still just one ship. Firepower and transport, those are what I offered, and you are responsible for sweeping the area and evacuation progress, I don't want a finger pointed at me because I miss someone down there and you know everyone better than me" She paused to see their reactions but most of them had a silent look of acceptance, no protest whatsoever so far. "I've been conducting repair for the last few days, but I am yet to repair my main battery. That dive into the ocean flooded my CIC, and without a targeting computer or AI I am risking an unnecessary crater with it. However, my complements of Archers and Bidents along with my deck guns are on separate systems so they are working normally"

She saw the confused look on their faces, probably not understanding half of the things she said but deciding to get along with it anyway judging by the way they nodded dumbly. "So basically, I'll drop tons of leads from the orbit before we insert in, taking out enemy ships, Sirens and the others. I had a test and I assure you they are more than enough to blow them apart" What she said gave an unexpected result, instead of feeling excited or assured they suddenly seemed horrified, this time it was her turn to feel confused.

"Um, Commander?" Helene spoke meekly, shifting to look at David uncomfortably.

"I haven't explained it yet to her"

"Explain what?"

"We... can't destroy a KANSEN, regardless their affiliation"

An incredulous look passed on her face, her eyes roaming around the room and its occupants before stopping at the Commander, still filled with disbelief. "You're kidding, right? These guys are more than willing to kill your friends but you are not?"

David sighed. "It's inconvenient yes but it's a part of the agreement we have in Azur Lane, while I know you are more than capable to wipe them off completely I must ask you to refrain from doing so. The loss of a single KANSEN is an irreplaceable loss not just for a country but the whole world, as examples are IJN Amagi and USS Yorktown, to this day we are yet to replace the gap they left"

"_We _as in Azur Lane?"

"We as in mankind"

She grimaced in return, shifting on her feet in distraught. Always the same reason, always the same justification. "Well, this is certainly troublesome" Something clicked in her head as she stared at the map once again, a decision came up with it. "You say no KANSEN casualty but I can still destroy those Sirens, right?"

"Yes, you can take them out"

A distracted nod, then a more focused one followed. A single word left her breath, this time as she silently looked around the assembled Ship-girls "Right... Right, I got it. Seems like you guys will play a bigger role than what we thought you would" Her eyes stopped on a certain bunch of Destroyers. "You over there, identify"

A nervous response was expected but instead she received a solid reply from one of them, a certain girl with blonde hair. "Destroyer Squadron 23, Little Beavers"

"Destroyer Squadron 23... Which of you is Charles Ausburne?"

"That would be me"

The leader of the pact, steadfast and reliable. She could respect that.

"You and your friends will be responsible in holding up the perimeter, keep all hostile KANSEN away from our objectives especially around these canals. Scatter torpedo tactic, hit and run by exploiting the ruins, I'll take care of the Siren posing threat to your team from above"

"Got it, guerilla warfare it is"

A nod of affirmation later and she was sure she could rely on them, even though it still felt odd sending these children-like ships to war but they had no other choice. "Next is the Cruisers. Coordinates with local friendly forces and make sure everyone is accounted for evacuation, if needed form a rescue squad for stranded ships, request support from Battleships and Carriers if it's deemed necessary or me when the situation is too dire for either. Loss may just be inevitable and I'm sure as hell want it rather on the enemy side than mine" The last part was directed for the Commander and he knew it, loss might be inevitable and he sure didn't want one of his subordinates to be the one dying, still he didn't like the prospect of killing mankind defenders. "Any questions?"

"What about our entry and exit? how quick will we arrive?"

"10 minutes, give or take"

Belfast didn't even try to hide her shock "10 minutes?! That fast?!"

"Yes, we will arrive at the AO in 10 minutes. We'll go into orbit first before moving in, at this time we'll be going in EMCON to avoid any detection or cause interference to nearby satellites. We may receive but we will not send any transmission out, that means all of us" She gave them a pointed look to make sure her point went across, eyes narrowing into dangerous slits. "I do not want to jeopardize my existence by revealing it needlessly, that's why I will jam internal communication too"

"You mean you're going to cut us off from the world?" Vestal queried apprehensively to the Heavy Carrier, her question seemingly represented the unease her friends had upon the declaration. Deep down she knew though, if the Heavy Carrier wanted to do something to harm them she wouldn't need to go through such length, still it's worrying to be alone up there.

"Temporarily, yes. Once we're back in atmosphere I will lift it up. Honestly, I'm only doing this because I am yet to trust some of you, and the other is because of the reason I mentioned earlier"

David coughed, once again diverting the girls' attention to him when he realized where the conversation was going to, if the sharp and disdainful look she gave Belfast and Warspite were any indication. "In any case, we do not have many choice, this is the best we can muster with her support"

The glare subsided from the spaceship's eyes before she completely got rid of it, focusing more to the mission ahead. "Continuing on, our exfil plan is very simple. As I was saying, we'll use the tower as randezveous point and evacuation site, get everyone up top and my Pelicans will take care of the rest. After that, we'll retreat back to orbit and then to base" She paused, mulling over the plans she just briefed them with to make sure she didn't miss anything before asking "So, any question or input?"

"Um, yes... What's _Pelicans__?"_

She blinked once, then twice, before rubbing the back of her neck somehow sheepishly when she realized they literally had no clue about her and her arsenal whatsoever.

"Right"

* * *

"So this is Pelican..." Vestal was the one breaking the stiff atmosphere surrounding them as they stood frozen at the base courtyard, staring the big aircraft before them with morbid curiosity.

"It's quite... huge?" Said Warspite hesitantly, struggling to find her words. "I think our riggings will still fit"

"Why are the wings like that? I mean how do they make them capable to point upwards like that?"

"Forget about the wings!" San Diego cried out as she clutched her head in shock. "It has a cannon mounted on it!"

"It's a flying gun battery" Enterprise whispered to nobody in particular, her purple eyes wandering around the surface of the strange aircraft with avid details, stopping only when she spotted some peculiar components and the various weapons it carried. The contraption did seem otherworldly, something came out of the wildest of dream engineers would have, a wet dream to be exact.

This... Pelican, was the epitome of crazy avionics, it had everything currently trending in the world including VTOL and thrust vectoring capabilities, something still under development and was expected to be fully understood in a couple of decades to come. Except this single aircraft not only was the perfect example but also an advanced piece of engineering probably centuries to come, brimming with technology they wouldn't grasp until hundreds of years in the future.

It was all there, sitting on their courtyard with all its technological might displayed, engines faintly glowing in stand-by mode.

"Hey!" A voice called out from the back of the Pelican, startling the Destroyers who had been whispering to themselves while they turned in unison to face the source "How long do you plan to stand there and gawk at it? Get in quickly, we're heading out now!"

They shared a glance to each other before silently making their way inside the Pelican, passing by the Commander who had been standing outside near its ramp conversing with the Heavy Carrier, an electronic device or some sort held on one hand behind his back. Enterprise was about to enter the compartment when she heard something that caught her attention, coming from the Heavy Carrier.

"You know, I was expecting an outrage back then" She gestured towards the Command Building with a slight nod, refering to the time they were briefed.

"What do you mean?"

The spaceship didn't answer right away, instead she stared at her purple eyes for a few long seconds before giving her reply. "You do realize if the situation is too dire, we may have to pull out and leave your friends to die, your Commander said it himself"

_I wouldn't even have this ops in the first place if she wasn't here._

Enterprise's eyes widened, the amount of informations she received during the briefing was enough to keep her preoccupied from completely understanding David's confession but now she finally caught up with what the Commandser said. "No... it's... You wouldn't do that, right Commander?" When David didn't say anything in return, the shocked look on Enterprise's face morphed into a mixture of anger, sadness and betrayal. "How could you..." She whispered, feeling the tears building on the corners of her eyes.

"I... would do whatever necessary to ensure peace between us and the rest of the world even when our ideas conflict each others"

"Even if it means letting your friends die?"

"I would carry the burdens myself when it comes to that"

_When_

At this time all assembled Ship-girls had already been listening to the conversation with each having their own reactions, the gloomy atmosphere radiating from inside the Pelican was enough to kill though as it represented the general mood.

"Someone had to make the decision, and I would do the same"

Enterprise glared at her counterpart. "You said that so easily because you don't know anyone fighting out there, it's my sister and my friends! What if it was yours? Would you still say the same if it was your sister?!"

She glared back at her, snarling heatedly, they knew what were coming when the Heavy Carrier suddenly jabbed a finger at Enterprise's chest and pulled her close by her collar, but nobody dared to make a move and defuse the situation. "I would if it meant for the greater good! Do you think I have never lost a sister?! One of them literally went supernova in front of me!"

All those anger as she watched continents being burned, all those sadness she felt tormenting her when she travelled through the remnants of her friends and the grief when yet once again one of her dear sisters died, all crashing down like a merciless tidal wave on her. She was the second ship of the Epoch-class, meaning those who died were her younger sisters, words couldn't describe the pain she felt whenever a transmission coming from the front line colonies saying an Epoch had been destroyed or scuttled and abandoned, knowing full well they were the little sisters she cherished and watched the maiden voyage before.

It's like a parent burying their own child, and no parents were supposed to bury their own children.

"It was her first combat deployment, you know? she was still young, only a few weeks since her launch yet she's already put on the fleet" And in a smaller tone, she added. "A flash of white plasma later and she was gone, one time she's there and the next thing I know she's gone"

"I'm... sorry"

She closed her eyes and exhaled deeply before slowly, gradually, her grip loosened up and she released her off. "Look, I want you to understand our situation, not to poke on your personal problem. You usually have this composed face on you but back there? You seemed like you're ready to jump into actions, reckless actions, all because of your sister and friends are in danger"

"I just want to help them, and I don't want to lose Hornet again"

"I get it, I really do, but what help can you be when all you have is impulse? I need you to follow the plans even if the worst happened, keep your cool head for times like these"

"I... yeah..."

The Aircraft Carrier silently made her way into the Pelican, her head hung low as she sat down on one of the seats available where Vestal then later joined in, reluctantly patting her on the back in comforting manner.

"That's quite blunt" David commented, earning the Heavy Carrier's attention back.

She sighed once again, shaking her head. "Someone had to remove that stick from her ass, I just took it on my accord"

A moment of silence before David spoke, this time his tone took a heavier pitch. "Not everyone is as nonchalant as you are regarding death"

"... You know, one of my sisters often said there's a big difference between spending lives and wasting lives" She stared him in the eyes as if seizing him with those red orbs of her's, searching and scanning in the depths of his very soul. "Which one is this, Commander? Spending or wasting?"

"I'm sure you know the answer, between a fleet of ships and folks back home, the answer is crystal clear"

A dry short chuckle escaped her throat, lacking humour in every sense. "You see us as tools, war machines"

"I see you and the others as soldiers, thoroughly so"

"I wouldn't try to deny my true nature, Commander"

David grimaced but didn't reply to her rather disturbing retort, instead he chose to change the subject. "Remember, this is a snatch and escape operation, do not waste your time over there no matter what but try to not reveal your true form" He said to the raven haired woman before him after a brief glance into the aircraft, making sure everyone was onboard.

If she noticed the way he dodged the topic, she didn't show it. "I understand, sir, I'll try to be discreet"

The Commander nodded and smiled at her in gratitude before straightening his posture, face morphing into a more neutral expression. "Good luck out there and please bring them back safely"

He threw her a perfect salute, one in which she returned almost immediately with the same quality. "I will do my best, Commander" Enterprise said before stepping inside the Pelican, maneuvering around the others while keeping her eyes focused at the Commander.

The Pelican shuddered as its ramp began to close, slowly sealing the crew compartment from outside world. For a brief second, darkness enveloped all of its occupants until the portholes installed on each of its sides depolarized allowing sunlight to filter inside, but they were not enough to fully illuminate the troop bay until suddenly the built-in artificial lights hummed to life along with the Pelican, this time completely eliminated the lingering darkness.

Those unprepared by the sudden explosion of whiteness found themselves blinking rapidly out of biological response to adjust their vision, one of them was Helena who accidentally bumped over Belfast, their riggings clashed against each other creating a resonating _thunk _across the bay.

"I'm sorry"

"It's not a big matter, it's quite cramped afterall"

Before Helena could give her response, Enterprise suddenly spoke up, not her Enterprise. "Alright everyone buckle up, we have no time to spare so once we finish the re-entry process you'll be jumping out immediately. Rough travel is expected and I'm sure as hell don't want any of you to hit your head or break your neck" They immediately complied albeit hesitantly, settling down on the seats provided. Helena fumbled with her harness trying to figure out how to put it correctly, a few moments later it was properly secured after the Heavy Carrier instructed them how, Warspite had a bit of problem though with her injured arm kept getting in the way.

"Here, let me help you with that" The blonde Battleship stiffened up when Enterprise suddenly grabbed her by the shoulder, keeping her in place, up close she could make out the grey tint of her hair as the woman began working on her safety belt. "See this button? Just press it and it will undo itself, just be careful don't get your injured hand in compromise and you should be fine"

"Okay..."

Enterprise noticed the slight tension and unease in her tone which seemingly increased when the world suddenly shifted as the Pelican began to take off. Exhaling a loud sigh, she stood up and addressed all the passengers onboard. "Listen, I know how abruptly created this team is, and how little planning we have for this mission but I promise you I will do whatever it takes to get everyone back home. Even though we treaded an uneasy alliance and the distrust between us is quite palpable, it is still my duty from your Commander and I wish to fulfill it without a hitch" She turned towards Belfast and Warspite, each respectively straightened up to face her. "I don't trust you and I'm sure neither of you trust me, but I only ask one thing; believe in me, and nobody will die under my watch, I have witnessed enough death I don't need more"

_Believe_

Wordlessly, she left them after giving each and every single Ship-girls a once over, gone behind the sealed bulkheads of the cockpit. Nobody uttered a word and no one made a sound, only the steady hum of the Pelican filled the void and the constant rumble as it passed through layers of clouds.

Only when they finally escaped the white nothingness did someone break the silence.

"Woah..."

"It's... beautiful"

"First time riding an aircraft, Thatcher?" Vestal asked the small Destroyer with a small smile, watching her and her sisters peering through their shoulders to look outside, awe-stricken by the sight. She tried to distract herself from what the spaceship said.

"Yes, I didn't know the sky is this vast"

"It's not much different with the oceans, everywhere you look at it's deep dark blue. It's not like the sea however because instead of brighter, the more you look upwards the darker it becomes until you lost all sense of directions the farther you go"

The sole Aircraft Carrier onboard spoke for the first time since her quarrel with her counterpart, but her voice was so distant and detached as if the subject had never reached her. "Then again, the sky is where the sun is. A source of warmth for everyone living down there, even though the sky can be unpredictable much like the sea sometimes it is still undeniable that all life would have gone extinct without its gifts"

A nostalgic smile found its way on Vestal's lips. "I do recall you used to spend your time gazing at the sky when you were young, you and your sisters on the hillside back at home" She said in hope of improving Enterprise's mood.

"Yeah..." Muttered Enterprise, staring at one certain point outside through the porthole, a black speck that slowly growing bigger and bigger. "We... were happy back then, so innocent and full of dreams"

_"30 seconds to docking"_

"But as time flew and the tragedies that followed, even the brightest of light will burn itself out, and the brightest of light burns the fastest"

The black dot had now turned into a giant, a massive metal construct hovering high above cloud level, as imposing as one could imagine especially when they flew right beside its port side directly near its plethora of weapons. At this point, everyone already had their eyes glued to the giant vessel with each having their own reactions, but a certain silver haired girl had her attention on only one thing; the vessel's name, displayed proudly on her hull taking almost a third of her length.

Enterprise remembered what her sister Hornet said the last time she saw her, about the spaceship's motto and how she saw it. It's strange because as far as she knew there was no patch whatsoever on her person and uniform that showed it, but turned out what Hornet saw was not on her person at all but rather on her metal form. The three words representing her motto were painted just below her name, smaller but still big enough for them to see, along with the letter CV-600 and two capitalized EN that by itself were large enough to cover an Aircraft Carrier diagonally.

Now with her repair attempt had taken effect, they could pretty clearly see the whole form of the Heavy Carrier, polished and cleaned from any damage though the non-reflective material of her coating completely absorbed the sun reflection leaving her surfaces forever pitch black. There were still some rugged points but no holes whatsoever thanks to the metal plating covering them, it surprised her how quickly she patched them especially with the fact she did it without their help.

_"We're coming for final approach"_

Enterprise's train of thoughts were interrupted when they suddenly dove down, passing below one of the 'wings' of the vessel and the smaller caliber weapons she probably used as point defense weapons. Grey metal wall filled their vision for a moment before the Pelican swerved right and hovered near an open entrance, big enough to probably fit a Destroyer total length. At first nothing seemingly happened and it confused them as to why they stopped there until a glint of white pulled near the Pelican before it swiftly moved into the spaceship, a Broadsword Fighter.

"Her runway is on her... belly?" Helena began reluctantly, looking at everywhere. This was the first time she saw the spaceship up close and to be entirely honest she's a bit nervous and intimidated by her size and it took everything out of her to not squirm, knowing full well her rigging would hit someone again if she made the slightest of movement.

"It's odd but it makes perfect sense, why would you have it on top when you can connect it directly with your hangar?" Vestal replied.

"That assuming she has a runway to begin with, her aircraft possess VTOL capability afterall" Warspite added.

The Pelican moved again, this time with reduced speed but slowly and surely they're making their way inside the gaping maw of the Heavy Carrier. Once again a voice resonated through the crew compartment coming from small speakers installed across it, spoken by none other than the embodiment of the ship before them.

_"Ladies, welcome aboard"_

The portholes polarized themselves once again obscuring them from seeing the outside and in extent the spaceship's inside. A dry _thunk _however was enough of evident for them to understand they had arrived on their destination, the revelation was enough to make them tensed up in a mixture of anxiousness and anticipation.

A hiss signaled the Heavy Carrier reemergence from the Pelican's cockpit, without sparing a glance she strode towards the rear most of the troop bay as the ramp began to lower, only when it had opened fully did she talk, turning on her heels to address her curious spectators.

"From here on the operation has begun, stay inside the Pelican you'll drop out as soon as we reenter into the atmosphere"

"Where are you going?" Belfast asked when the ravenette suddenly walked away without much word.

"I'll be on the bridge" A robust looking car pulled over near her, empty with no driver whatsoever, and she jumped behind the steer unceremoniously. "I have better scope from up there, besides it's not like you'll run around my hangar and being touchy feely, _right?_"

Belfast grimaced. "No..."

"Good, I'd know either way" She reeved on the gas, and the car roared up in response. "Hang tight and don't freak out, you'll be one of few men ever go to space"

And just like that, she drove away, the sound of the Warthog's Hydrogen engine slowly fading away in the distance. None of them understood the meaning of her warning until the gravity suddenly shifted and the feeling of free fall took over for the briefest of moment, the only thing keeping them from being thrown away was the harness around their body.

_"Sorry about that, my artificial gravitation adjusters were decalibrated when I crashed and I haven't fixed it" _Came Enterprise voice from the INTERCOM. _"The Pelican has magnetic clamps so you guys should be fine if you stay there"_

"I... don't feel so good" San Diego mumbled, holding her stomach and what's inside it.

_"Yeah well you better swallow __it, we'll arrive in 7 minutes. I recommend you double check your gear and make sure you're green, the Sirens have intensified their attack from what I see, they probably know we're coming"_

"So they're finally successful decrypting Hornet's message" Helena interjected, this time she didn't try to mask her uneasiness.

_"My guess exactly, kind of odd though since they jammed the area yet didn't aware of the transmission. I'll have transmitter drones deployed as ECCM, you should be able to open communication once you got there, what's your communication frequency?"_

"For short range, satellite and aircraft it's 300-400 MegaHertz in Ultra High Frequency setting, Eagle Union Navy standard. But Hornet's team is on 452.2MHz"

_"... Alright, it's done"_ The spaceship paused, they could barely make out her humming in thought for a brief second. _"Hey blue girl, you're the EW specialist, right?"_

Helena blinked owlishly.

_Blue girl?_

"N-not quite, I am merely responsible for communication. Why did you ask?"

_"I need to know all the frequencies you guys utilize, it'll make things easier"_

Belfast stiffened up, she opened her mouth to say something but closed it again a second later. They knew what the headmaid was about to say, if the troubled look and the way she bit her lips were a proof.

"I'll have it compiled later"

_"Thank you. I've arrived on my bridge, images data from surveillance drones have just come back too, it seems the enemy have made significant progress in pushing Hornet's team despite the massive Siren casualty they suffered and they..."_

A chill ran down their spines hearing the Heavy Carrier trailed off, the anxiousness and unease they felt had turned into a full fledged dread. She had been so composed so far, keeping her attitude in check in front of them by being dependable and confident for the sake of the mission so to hear her losing her words was more than unsettling and alerting.

"What's the matter?" The Aircraft Carrier Enterprise asked with no small amount of trepidation to the empty air, something was nagging at the back of her mind telling her she wouldn't like her answer.

A warrior's instincts were rarely wrong, but for once she wished she was wrong.

_"... Hornet's down, she's burning"_

**_TBC_**

**Oh I know how to end a chapter alright.**

**To be honest, I've completed this chapter's general plot since almost a month ago, but then I thought "Fuck it, not enough drama" so I added more drama. How it goes I'll let you guys be the judge for it.**

**So yeah I tried to write the story on Google Doc, but there's a small problem in which I can't upload it to the site. I also tried to take the already written from Fanfiction app to check it on Google Doc but then I lost all my progress which is suck, though thankfully it's only a small part of the whole chapter. I could do it manually though by going through each paragraphs, by copying the document and then putting it on Google Doc but I'll be honest since it's too much of a hassle I'd probably only do it on occasions.**

**About updating in shorter but more frequent order... Well, how do I say this... Thing is, sometimes expectation doesn't meet reality. Would you believe me if I said I have no control over the chapter length? Because that's the case. All I can do is plan and adapt, and there's a problem with shorter chapter order where the story gets choppy as consequence. Immersion is everything, one thing I want the most is to have my readers ride along the plot rather than to force it down.**

**On that note, you guys probably have noticed it my writing style is the one that is character-driven, rather than plot-driven. I want you guys to see the world I build on from the characters' eyes, their feelings, thoughts and actions are all what make up the story. Of course, that doesn't mean the plot is any less important but I want to make people 'feel' first.**

**Anyway, that would be all I think. Congratulation on figuring out the meaning of our space Enty's motto. Again, thank you for all of your support so far, your feedbacks all have reached me and I've taken them into account. Please keep them coming, that's all I ask you guys to give me and it's like the best thing you can do.**

**See you guys later and stay safe.**

**P.S: I love Ace Combat 4 too it has like the best final mission intro in the entire series.**

**Cipher032 out!**


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